


Sonder

by Caskettmyheart



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, AtLA AU, Carmilla characters in ATLA world, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Multi, Self-Discovery, This fic can contain some more adult concidered themes like, avatar the last airbender x carmilla AU, mentions of abandonnement, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-09-02 00:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8644357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caskettmyheart/pseuds/Caskettmyheart
Summary: The borders between nations are fading slowly but surely under the protection of Avatar Korra but still, people are not accepted for who they are in every part of the world, or in every household.Carmilla is one of those unfortunate enough to experience this firsthand. Laura, on the other hand, doesn't realise that with bending comes certain power. Perry is all too aware. She feels alone in her unwillingness to accept she's a bender. LaFontaine is happier in life, with a quirky family to match. Sadly, their riches on the South Pole don't feed their need for their crazy inventions. Danny can help with that, allong with the Kyoshi Warriors, she helps where needed. In the world of Avatar: The last airbender and The legend of Korra, the Carmilla characters come alive in what I call the ATLA Carmilla AU or ATLA AU.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinyace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyace/gifts), [c-syz](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=c-syz).



**PROLOGUE: 183 AG**

 

“Congratulations, you’re a parent now!” The nurse smiled down at the woman covered in sweat and the man sitting beside her, holding her hand and caressing her forehead. “And you too, of course,” she smiled at the man. “It’s a girl. May we welcome this little bundle of joy into your arms, your loving home, and this incredible world.”

She paused to let the new parents admire their little baby. “Have you two decided on a name yet?” This was one of her favorite parts of her job, finding out what the name of a child she just helped bring into the world was. She moved closer towards the couple with the little baby in her arms.  
“Not yet, but we already love her, our little girl,” he looked at her daughter with tear stained eyes. Fathers usually cried when having their child in their arms for the first time. It was this sort of switch that happened in their mind and soul, while a mother usually clicked earlier. She’d seen it many times before, and he was no exception. The mother was exhausted, but couldn’t keep her drooping eyes off her newborn.

“Would you like to hold her sir?” She knew the answer but had to ask anyway. It felt like a sort of formality for every new parent to hear. As expected, he answered, nodding his head eagerly with the tears of joy still glistening in his eyes. She told him how to hold his arms before carefully handing him the sleeping baby. The special thing about the little girl was that she had cried when born, but only for a few seconds, before ceasing to a whimper and ultimately drifting to sleep. Even with the loud bangs from fireworks and people celebrating outside, the little baby had drifted off to sleep. She and the other doctors made sure there was nothing wrong with the child before declaring she was just a really calm baby.

The moment he had her in his arms, she stirred. For a second, she thought the little one would start to cry, to make up for lost time. Instead, she slowly opened her eyes and moved her mouth open and closed a few times before focusing on the face in front of her.  
“Hi there, my darling,” he spoke in a soft, slightly high pitched voice. “Your mommy and I have been awaiting your arrival.” He regarded his daughter for a while before adding,  “You sure are pretty like her.” He glanced up at his partner, proud eyes beaming. “Say hi to mommy,” he brought the two ladies in his life closer to each other. She was slowly regaining some strength but was fighting sleep.  
“Oh Honey, what are we going to call her?” she asked her husband. She reached up to pull a bit of the blankets wrapped around the baby back, in order to admire her daughter. “Our little miracle must have a proud and strong name.” There was no way she was going to give her child some common name like Mai or Lee. She wanted her daughter to have a unique and yet elegant name to represent her family.

“Mircalla.”

As she said it, his face brightened even more and he looked up at his wife in wonder. “That’s exactly what we’re going to call her. Our little miracle. Mircalla.” He regarded her reaction, and she smiled.  
“Yeah, that’s a strong name. Mircalla Morgan Karnstein.” Both the parents watched their little girl, smiling at their little miracle.

The nurse went to get the official papers in order to name the baby girl, and put the bundle in her crib so the mother could rest. While she slept, the father signed all the papers and watched over his daughter. She smiled as she watched the scene. But she was also glad she could now join her friends and colleagues who were celebrating the New Year in the lounge room. A baby born right on midnight on New Year’s… Talk about a miracle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is used to explain a bit of the world. Even if you have no idea what ATLA is about, I hope this gives you an idea of the world. If you have any questions, you can ask here, or ony my tumblr :)
> 
> For those who already know ATLA and Korra, it's not just an explanation but I will use Danny's perspectives to explain the world a couple of times. If I mess something up, be sure to let me know.

**DANNY LAWRENCE (17) – 202 AG**

 

“You’ll never catch us!” He shouted over his shoulder.  
“Yeah, we’re way faster than you!” The other one mocked. Her brothers just loved to challenge her. Just to prove them wrong she sped up her pace, forming the ground underneath her feet in waves to push her forward. Her arms were racing up and down, she could feel her muscles strain with the weight of the earth she was moving. She shot forward and in a second, she was leveled with her brothers. A grin formed on her face as she saw her little brothers’ expressions fall. They just had a few more meters to go to the finish line on the top of the mountain. Her brothers attempted a final push. They were all going at the same pace now. Danny regarded them and shot them a sly smile.

“You didn’t think I’d let you two win, did you?” Danny grinned before moving both of her arms forcefully towards the ground, skyrocketing herself of the ground and into the air, flying over the finish line a few seconds before her brothers crossed it.  
“Hey!” Wen said.  
“That’s not fair!” Ren finished.  
“We never made up any rules,” She whipped the sweat from her forehead, “Other than no bending at each other,” she shrugged and pulled out her metal fans. She looked back at the damage they did on the mountain and took a deep breath. Her heart was still racing but she steadied herself enough to make the next move. She lifted her arms and focused on restoring the earth to its former glory. She slowly lowered her arms and saw the earth move with it, returning to its rightful place in the surface of the mountain. Whenever she and her siblings raced, she’d make sure they didn’t leave it scarred or messed up from their bending, just like her sister would do when she still raced with them. Her brothers watched the interaction with curiosity.  
“Hey sis?” Wen asked. He came to stand beside her, gazing over Kyoshi Island and the ocean on the horizon. “Why do you always do that?” Ren joined them, stomping on the ground to raise a part of the earth. He sat himself down on the makeshift bench. Wen joined him with his gaze still fixed on the landscape in front of them.  
“There are always two options when you’re bending. You can demolish things, or create them. Think of the former Fire Nation. They destroyed a lot of land and lives but the original fire benders, the Sun Warriors, used the element of fire to make a positive change in the world. Now with us, as earthbenders, it could be destructive but we can also create new things. If we were never to return the ground to the way it was, we would destroy the beautiful landscape every time we earthbend. But we could also help people building their new houses, or protect people from floods, earth slides or even volcano eruptions.” She paused and put an arm around her two brothers. Wen leaned in, Ren raised an eyebrow but didn’t object.  
“Look at this island. This is our home, and I believe it’s beautiful the way it is.” She paused and looked at the twins. “Besides, if we restore it, we can keep racing the same mountain.” Wen and Ren chuckled along with her. Danny pulled out her metal fans and showed them to her brothers. “You remember the tale of Avatar Kyoshi right?” Her brothers nodded along very enthusiastically. It wasn’t for nothing that their home town – and entire island – was named after Avatar Kyoshi.  
“According to many, she was one of the best Avatars yet. Of course, her being an earthbender helped with that.” She and her brothers laughed. Earthbender pride. “She separated our island with the main land of the Earth Kingdom, which is now a Republic, with the help of metal fans like these. They strengthen the power of an earthbender, and are the traditional weapons of the Kyoshi Warriors.” Danny looked at her brothers admiring the fans, and ruffled both of their hair.  
Unlike her brothers, who had the traditional green eyes and brown hair of an earthbender, she had orange locks of hair and blue eyes. Her siblings and she came from a mixed family. Their mother came from the Northern Water Tribe, where blue eyes are the standard instead of brown or green and red hair isn’t uncommon. Her mother’s a non-bender while her father was an earthbender from Kyoshi Island.

She stood up from the makeshift bench. “Come on, little ones, let’s get home.” She slid the metal fans shut and put them on her belt.  
“Hey! We’re not little anymore!” Ren started, Wen went on, “Yeah! We’re twelve now.” He spoke proudly as he puffed his chest out. Danny chuckled in response. They were growing up so fast.  
“Not yet, you’re not. Two more days to go. So I’m going to enjoy calling you little as many times as I can, for as long as possible.” Danny started walking down the hill, towards their home. Wen jumped on her back for a piggyback ride while Ren walked beside her.

  
When the Kyoshi Warrior training grounds came into view, Wen put his chin on her shoulder.  
“When can we join the Kyoshi Warriors?” he softly spoke.  
“Yeah! I want to be a badass fighter like you and Xuxu too.” Ren excitedly skipped for a few paces.  
“I wouldn’t call her Xuxu, Ren. You know she doesn’t like it.” Danny smiled before answering the question, “Normally you can join at any time from the age of 12. But usually it’s just for girls. No guy has permanently joined the Kyoshi Warriors, ever. I’m not sure if Xu is going to change that tradition. Besides, it’s for non-benders.”  
“How come you got to join?” Ren asked as Wen made sounds of agreeing with his brother.  
“Xu has made a few exceptions. Suki, the leader before our sister, also allowed benders into training. She taught Xu everything she knows.” Danny was sure Ren and Wen knew this already, but still they remained silent while she told them the tale.  
“You know, Suki was there with Avatar Aang when he defeated the old Firelord Ozai.” Ren and Wen loved hearing stories like this. “Suki and Sokka married. While Sokka died at a normal age, Suki lived on for a very long time. Just like Avatar Kyoshi, she aged with grace, and lived to be 115 years old. She died just last year. Remember that big funeral everyone went to? That was hers. Xu had been working with her the past few years to take over the leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors. You actually met Suki a few times. She was friends with mom’s grandmother. Xu will probably lead the Kyoshi Warriors for as long as she can, just like Suki did.”  
Ren and Wen listened to her with awe. They were completely fixated as they listened. Both of them really enjoyed history.  
“Wow, that’s amazing! I hope I become 115 years old!” Ren smiled greatly.  
“Do Suki and Sokka’s great-grandchildren live here too? They should be about your age right?” Wen wondered out loud.  
“Yeah, I guess they should be around my age.” Danny thought for a moment. “As far as I know, Suki and Sokka had both a son and a daughter. Their daughter married a citizen of Yu Dao, so I’m not sure where they are now.” Ren looked at her curiously.  
“Where is Yu Dao?”  
“It was one of the first Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. The citizens of Yu Dao are a mix of earth and fire nation and both fire and earthbenders live there peacefully. Perhaps Sokka and Suki’s daughter went to live in Yu Dao because they could raise their children in peace. The rest of the world wasn’t so quick to mix the nations,” Danny finished.  
“Why? There aren’t any problems now, are there?” Wen asked, worry clear in his voice. They were a mixed family themselves, being of both Earth and Water descendants. The boys had never encountered the outside world much, only traders coming to the island. They were all kind to mixed families. They didn’t know about the people out there who thought the nations should stay divided.

Danny put him down as they were nearing their house. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, Xu and the other Kyoshi Warriors do travel to help out wherever they can in order to keep peace, but I think most of the world is okay now. Of course, we still have the four nations, and they’ll always be the four nations. Nevertheless, it’s not uncommon to find mixed nation villages around Republic City. Everyone is accepted in the Nations, unless they’re wanted criminals, of course.” She smirked and looked at Wen, who chuckled. He was reassured. Ren on the other hand, he frowned and rolled his eyes.

“Let’s just get inside,” he sighed.

 

Later that day, Danny walked out of their house again. This time without her two little brothers. She had to meet up with the other Kyoshi Warriors, Ren and Wen had to pack for their journey. She pulled out her fans and exercised her movements from last week’s meeting. She didn’t bend the earth around her, just traced the steps Xu had so specifically taught them.  
“Ah Danny. How nice of you to grace us with your presence.” Danny internally sighed at the sound of Xu’s voice. Xu was leaning against the doorframe of their training space, regarding Danny.

“Look Xu, I’m sorry I’ve been a no show to some of the meetings this week but-” She started, but was interrupted by Xu.  
“Some? Don’t you mean all of them?” Xu gave her a look of steel and Danny just rolled her eyes. Why couldn’t her sister just understand that she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her brothers before they had to go?

“Look Xu,” She started, but again her sister interrupted again.  
“Save it. Just come inside and get ready for practice. I expect you to be your best for next week.”

Danny walked inside without another word and greeted her group of friends in the Kyoshi Warriors. She was the only bender presently in the movement, and it was likely to stay that way. This was a way for non-benders to defend themselves. The other benders in town were either too busy doing earthbender required work, or too young to join. Or, like Ren and Wen, had the opportunity to join the Metal Clan to learn metalbending. She was proud of her little brothers. But she would truly miss them once she’d be forced to say goodbye to them for at least a year. That was for next week though. Today, she had some training to do. The Kyoshi Warriors were to show the Metal Clan their worth, and perhaps recruit a few members while they were there. Sure, the whole world may know of their existence, but they still had trouble getting members sometimes. Then again, most parents didn’t let their children travel the world like Aang, Katara and Sokka had let some people believe. Evidence of this were the Air Nomads recruiting new members to travel across the world to learn and study their new found bending powers in 170 AG. The Kyoshi Warriors had the same problems. Lots of potential, but not a lot that actually wanted to give up their life, which Danny completely understood. Still, it was a shame. Nevertheless, they had to look their best in their little performance. Plus, if her brothers were training with the Metal Clan, they would look good with a familiar face amongst them.

 

Xu stood at the head of the group in a hunter green top and black sweatpants. A few years ago, Suki had decided to change the habit of training in full attire every meeting. The make-up routine was a whole process that took time most people just didn’t have. Once a week, they would train with their attire. The other times, it was just the unofficial uniform of anything casual with earth tones.  
Everyone was seated, facing Xu. They sat in the lotus position, back straight and chin high.  
“Welcome back, ladies,” Xu started. Somewhere in the crowd, a low voice grunted. “And Lee.” Some of the girls giggled while Lee just nodded gratefully to Xu. “As you all know, next week we’ll depart for the city of Zaofu. We’re invited by the Metal Clan to give a small performance of our abilities. I expect to see nothing but the best when we show them all we’ve got. Clear?” Everyone muffled a small ‘yeah’, and looked up again. “Now, I know that for some of you, this journey will be the first that takes you across the borders of Kyoshi Island. Enjoy the new landscapes and meeting new

 on your own time, but while you’re with the Kyoshi Warriors, I expect nothing but your best behavior while we’re traveling. Anyone who misbehaves will return home.”  
Danny kept her head in Xu’s direction, but looked at some of the newer girls in front of her. They seemed nervous. As Xu had said, this would be their first world journey. Danny had remembered the first time she went on a trip further than the Island’s borders. It had been a month long travel to the South Pole to help them rebuild homes after a particularly bad snowstorm. She’d seen how the South Pole had grown from a village they learned about in school, to a brand new town. Danny couldn’t consider it a city quite yet. Ever since Avatar Korra was revealed to be from the Southern Water Tribe, people had grown more curious about the isolated part of the world. They’d started to travel there and some people even made it their home. Danny smiled at the memory. She remembered talking to a very cool person called LaFontaine. She didn’t know a lot about them, only that they were really interested in the industrial inventions and technical evolution that was going on in the World. Sadly for LaFontaine, the Southern Water Tribe wasn’t exactly the place for the newest automobiles or factories.

 

She was snapped out of her trip down memory lane when the others around her stood up. Damn, she missed a part of Xu’s speech. She’s just ask Lee about it later, see if she’d missed anything important. Though sure she hadn’t. Xu had this tendency to talk about upcoming Kyoshi Warrior stuff at the dinner table. Her mom and dad were really interested, though that could be explained by the fact that they didn’t have to hear this stuff a bunch of times.

Danny looked around and saw that they were doing their regular training. Repeating the basics, then practicing the newest moves. She saw one of the newer girls standing alone, nervously looking around. The new girls had started out as a group of four, but one of the girls quit. Danny approached her and asked her to spar with her.  
“Oh no! You’re way too good for me! I don’t know all of the basics yet…” The girl rubbed her arm and made herself smaller.  
“Hey, Yue is it?” The girl nodded and looked up at Danny with a nervous expression. “Yue, I won’t do anything to hurt you. I’ll start with the basic moves and then we’ll move on to advanced stuff. If I’m going to fast, just stop me. I’m happy to help.” She gave the girl a reassuring smile that seemed to lift Yue’s spirits a bit.  
“Thanks, Danny,” she spoke in a soft voice.  
“No problem. Now hit me with your best shot.” Danny smirked, taking in her stance.

 

Danny grabbed the towel from the floor and whipped her forehead with it before putting it around her neck. She was sweating intensely from the training Xu had them doing today. It was only 8am. Couldn’t she give them a break? She was well aware that the date of departure was in 5 days, but Xu was really giving it her all in trying to exhaust them.  
“Alright Kyoshi Warriors. That’s all for today. Good job. Yue, keep practicing that triple dodging motion, okay?” Xu’s voice carried over all of the sighs and puffs the girls and Lee were making. Xu made her way towards Danny and handed her a bottle of water.  
“Thanks,” Danny croaked out. Her voice was hoarse from the training and lack of water it had consumed in the last two hours. Xu loved these early morning trainings. Danny on the other hand, wouldn’t have minded if they didn’t exist.  
“How about we go get changed before waking Wen and Ren?” Xu suggested.  
“Xu, you barely broke a sweat! You don’t need to change at all.” Danny didn’t like the fact that Xu could just walk around the group giving orders and tips while they were all working their butts of trying to get the choreography right.  
“I can’t celebrate this special day in these old rags,” Xu stated, pointing at her attire. Those ‘old rags’ were clothes Danny would probably have to wear when Xu got tired of them. They looked fine to her. But then again, her sister always got the new clothes because she was the oldest. She and her little brothers usually did with whatever was still intact from Xu’s wardrobe. She pitied her brothers who had to wear even older things than her. Thank god Xu was a fan of unisex wardrobe. The things they called “girly” were so totally unpractical for a bender. Xu being a non-bender, had no trouble in that department.  
That reminded Danny. She didn’t really have much special lying in her shelf. She didn’t like skirts, and had only one dress she still fit in. But that one was way too old for this special day. Her brothers were turning 12, for lion turtle’s sake. They were traveling to the Metal clan to advance their bending. This was a very special day.  
“Hey sis? Do you think I could borrow one of your suits or dresses? I don’t have any.” Danny knew the answer would come down to the mood Xu was in. Normally, it was an automatic no, but Danny really didn’t have anything nice or clean to wear today.  
“You can have my suit. I’m feeling more like a dress today. Besides, I know you’d kill me if I handed you my dress.” Xu laughed, her face showing that she was picturing the last time she saw her sister in a dress.  
“Hey! I do enjoy wearing a dress… Sometimes.”

“Oh please, just say thanks and be happy,” Xu mocked. Danny was happy though. Today was a good day. Her brothers were turning 12, her sister was in a good mood, and she didn’t screw up once in training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> I can't promise I will upload a chapter a week, but since the prologue wasn't long, and because of the positive response (thanks to you all), I decided to give you this chapter now.
> 
> Tumblr: Caskettmyheart.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c-syz told me it would help for the none ATLA or Korra watchers to have a map, to follow in the world. So let me link you one: http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Map_of_the_World_of_Avatar
> 
> There is another version on the home page of Avatar Wiki that you can click on and zoom in.

**CARMILLA (17) – 200-201 AG**

A gust of air ran through her locks of deep brown hair as she soared over the land far below. A shaky breath escaped her lips when a tear trailed a track out of the corner of her eye. She allowed the wind to swipe them up, and let them splatter on the soil way beyond her vision. As long as no one ever saw them fall, she didn’t mind the tears as much. She just couldn’t help herself. Her Maman made her furious. Carmilla knew better than to talk back to her mother, yet she still did it. She couldn’t for the life of her, figure out why. She shook her head slightly and let it hang. She trusted the wind around her enough to carry her onwards, to the place her heart longed for.

She looked at the earth so far below and wondered what kind of lives the people in those houses were living. There was a smaller house where she imagined an old couple, children long out of the house. The pair would probably stay there to their final days. Next to the small house stood a house of average size, where a family of five or six could live. A big happy family in which the older brother goes to work with his father and the younger kids play around before and after school.  
More towards a hill, a giant mansion caught her eye. From above, it looked quite like her own house. She knew it was probably the house of the family that owned the land. A wealthy family, like hers. Would that wealthy family be happy? Or messed up like hers was?

She took a breath and looked up. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, coloring the sky a magnificent fiery orange and soft pink. The bright light blinded her for a moment and she steered her airglider to the left. She knew how to get to the place on her mind. She’d flown this direction many times. It seemed to put her mind at ease knowing she’d soon be in a place without Maman. Without expectations. Without disappointments or insults. A place where she could be Carmilla, the airbender. Not Mircalla von Karnstein, firstborn of Lilita Morgan and disgrace to the ancient Fire Nation family. A disgrace for being an airbender. Something she didn’t even choose to be. A person her mother and unknown father created. A person who’d been despised by her own father the second she turned out to be an airbender. Not a firebender. At least, that’s what Maman told her time and time again. Carmilla wasn’t sure if she should believe what Maman told her about her father. She told so many lies, this could be one of many she’d repeated over again till it was believed to be true. 

“ _The second that poor excuse of a man found out you were an airbender, he left me to take care of you.”_ The sentence had repeated in her mind for hours when she first heard it as a six year old. Maman had just punished her for presenting a new skill she picked up when accidentally airbending. As a kid, she couldn’t control her bending as much as she was able to now. Maman never allowed her to practice. So little Carmilla soon learned small hand gestures and controlled movements alone in her room. Never again did she try to show her mother what she’d learned. As far as Maman knew, Carmilla was an obedient non-bending child. The same image her mother was so keen on showing the world. But Carmilla was anything but an obedient, quiet non-bender. She had taught herself to fly, which turned out to be her greatest asset. Whenever her mother went off on her about whatever she thought wrong of her daughter, Carmilla would take the verbal beating and fly away afterwards. Running seemed so much easier than handing around and face the shame she felt for not being good enough for her mother.

 

The sun was almost completely gone by now. The sky was turning a dark shade of blue with every minute that passed. It was a relatively cold night and the moon was a beautiful round shape, lighting enough of the earth for her to make out the isles. Carmilla was about an hour into her flight now. She could feel it getting colder by the minute, and she was growing tired. She turned her body towards the group of islands and started her descent towards them. She saw the many mountains nearing better now, and could make out the one she used to navigate. A few moments later, she dove towards the ground, took ahold of her glider and swung it over her head, creating an air swipe to help her land softly onto the soil. Her toes made contact with the ground and the rest of her feet slowly followed. Except for a soft swoop of the air, she had not made a sound. That was the way she’d taught herself to be; light on her feet.

 

It was significantly colder here than it was in the Fire Nation, but she couldn’t let it bother her too much. Her Fire Nation attire wasn’t exactly suited for cold wind, yet she hadn’t really payed attention to it whilst flying. She averted her attention elsewhere and looked up towards the Southern Air Temple. A small smile managed to creep onto her features. The white houses built up against the mountains were a beautiful sight in the shimmering moonlight. The tower in the middle of the mountain reached much higher than the houses did. Carmilla allowed herself a content sigh before starting her usual walk up the path, into the little village. Nowadays, the houses were inhabited and taken care of by Air Acolytes and new Airbenders. The Temple remained sacred ground and was closed at night. But Carmilla didn’t come here to see the magnificent Air Temple. Not yet anyways. Whenever she went on one of her trips, she’d stay a few days before returning. She’d developed a sort of ritual whenever she visited the island. She’d even met a few people here but mostly remained to herself. The Air Nomads and Acolytes had been very welcoming the first time she came here as a twelve year old. They even granted her a little house in the village to stay in for as long as she’d like. That’s where she was headed right now, a small house a little off the main road towards the Temple. Most houses were bigger and better equipped. This was a house the village could spare, but for Carmilla, who desired nothing more, it was home.

 

As she stood in front of the door to the small house she called her home away from home, she took a moment to admire it. The neighbors Omi and Rou, had been kind enough to paint her front door a beautiful sky blue a couple of years ago, and it still hadn’t lost its charm. . She remembered it had always been white, but her front door was now bright blue, instead of the faded grey-ish blue they became from years of wear.  
She looked to her right where a big sunflower stood in a flowerpot. The key to her safe haven was hidden inside on the bottom. She took it with ease and unlocked the door. She reached for the doorknob and turned it, entering the cottage and lighting a candle that sat on a little kitchen counter just on the left side of the door. She looked around for spiders and animals but saw none. She frowned, it had been a long time since she’d been here… Someone had been taking care of her cottage. There were no spider webs, no layers of dust on the surfaces, and when she walked into the next room, she found the bed made. It was almost as if they had known to expect her. _Oh_. Realisation hit her like an arrow to her heart. The content feeling Carmilla had experienced on first arriving on the island was replaced with a certain sadness. Though she was happy that her neighbors cared for her and her little home, she knew exactly how they had known to expect her, and she wasn’t particularly fond of it. She sighed to herself, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and shake off the heavy feeling that was pressing on her chest.

She walked towards the washroom and made herself ready to crawl into the inviting bed. She didn’t take the time to shower, there was plenty of time for that in the morning. For now, she was tired from the more than hour long trip. She welcomed the soft flannel bed covers. As her head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes. She sighed and let one last tear escape out of the corner of her eye before softly muttering to herself: “Happy Birthday, Carmilla.”

 

\--

 

When Carmilla woke up the next morning, the sun was beaming through the curtains in the open living room. The morning sun brought life to the little Air Nomad village. She could hear the soft voices of people carry through the streets. Instead of turning over and laying her head back onto the pillow, she scooted herself up, stretched out her arms and yawned. She was safe here. There was no need to hide in her bed for as long as possible.

So Carmilla decided to get up and looked in her closet. There, a bundle of Air Nomad clothes was sitting on the shelf. This made her smile. Though she hadn’t liked the fact that they had known to expect Carmilla to arrive in their village on this particular day, she did appreciate the fact that she didn’t have to wander through the village dressed as a Fire Nation citizen. She didn’t like that she didn’t fit in with the other Fire Nation citizens at the mansion, and she didn’t want to stand out here either, though there were less wondering eyes on her here. She made a mental note to thank Rohan. He had to be behind it for sure. She gratefully took the red and yellow clothes with her to the bathroom, and took a well-deserved, hot shower.

 

Getting out of the Fire Nation attire and into the loose and comfortable Air Nomad clothes felt freeing. A sigh escaped her lips when she opened her door and realized that she could be herself here. She felt herself smile genuinely for the first time since she left her little home away from home the last time. Which had actually been a couple of months. Usually she came back a lot faster. She had even debated living here for a while, but she knew as long as she returned to the Fire Nation soon enough, Maman wouldn’t come looking for her. If she were never to return however, there would be consequences. Not just for herself either.

Carmilla stood in her doorframe for too long to go unnoticed. A neighbor addressed her and caused her mind to snap out of the recalling of what happened on her last visit.  
“Ah Carmilla! Good to see you again.”  
“Good morning, Omi, Rou. How have you been?” Carmilla closed the door behind her and walked with them. Everyone was going towards the Temple this time of day, and so was she.  
“Everything’s been going well over here. Peaceful and quiet, as usual.” Omi smiled.  
“Oh, and Happy Birthday Carmilla. I do hope you enjoy it here.” Rou put his hand on her shoulder.  
“I always enjoy being here, Rou. You know that as well as I do.” She saw some of the other Airbenders fly overhead and land in front of the Temple, the gust of wind they created swooped through her hair.

“Hey, Rou?” Carmilla’s voice was soft, and she scratched the back of her neck. Rou looked sideways to show her he was paying attention. “Is Rohan here?” She asked tentatively.  
Rou chuckled, “I had a feeling you were going to ask that.” Carmilla felt a bit more at ease. They were wonderful people. “As the matter of fact, he came home two days ago.” Omi, who had been peacefully walking alongside them, went on. “I believe he’s still upstairs.” She glanced towards the top of the tower.  
“Alright. I’ll go pay him a visit.” Carmilla said in a much more confident manner than before. She debated going upstairs through the window, as she had done many times before. Though this time, it was different. Perhaps it would be best just to take the stairs to the top of the Temple and knock on his door.

 

So she made her way into the Temple and instead of following Omi and Rou into the big hall, she turned left and started her way up the long stairway. She could just make an air scooter and not bother with the effort of climbing the steps, but she felt as if she needed this slow burn as she made her way up one step at a time. She had thought long and hard about what she was going to say when she saw Rohan again, but it all seemed to idiotic now. She was only halfway up the stairs when doubt started slowing her down. She hesitated before taking another step and eventually just stilled her movements. Would Rohan still accept her here? Probably, right? Since he left her the clothes. Or maybe it had been one of the Acolytes?  
She decided it was worth to keep going and make her way to the top. She disregarded all her rehearsed speeches as she stood in front of the brown wooded door leading to his chambers. She took a shaky breath, raised her hand and was about to knock when the door opened slightly, just enough to invite her in. She put a hand on the wood and pushed it open slowly, the hinges creaking a bit with the weight of the door.  
“Rohan?” She stepped into the office space, the musky smell of ancient books welcoming her. She was hesitant to step forward once she was inside the walls of the office.  
Rohan was sitting at his desk, scribbling down something in a book Carmilla knew to be his diary. He didn’t immediately respond but once he was finished, he looked up and gave her a genuine smile.  
“Ah Carmilla, how great it is to see you again!” His warm voice was calm, patient and not at all angry. She didn’t really know what she’d expected, since he rarely got angry, but it was still a relief. Yet she was still not sure if she should proceed.  
“You’re not angry?” She couldn’t help but act surprised. She hadn’t even said a hello yet, but honestly it was the only question on her mind right now.  
His peaceful face formed into a light frown. He stood up, smiling again. He had a friendly resting face but was still smiling eighty percent of the time.

“Why would I be mad?” he asked, taking a few steps forward to stand before her, but not too close to ensure he didn’t invade her personal space. He was very attentive when it came to things like that. And in general as well.  
Carmilla wasn’t sure if she should say something like, ‘ _Oh you know, for that time I insulted you, threw punches and left without a word?’_ She figured it was best not to say anything. She let her head hang in shame, her actions from the last time they spoke making her feel this way.  
Rohan knew just what to do though. He opened his arms to her, and she flung herself at him without hesitation, hugging the man close. He put his arms around her and soothed her as her body started to shudder with tears.  
“I was never angry with you for your actions, Carmilla.” Rohan started, “I was sad when didn’t return for so long, yes.” He looked at her and sighed a little happily, “Honestly, I missed you. You are my favorite student after all.”  
This made Carmilla chuckle through her tears. She pulled back from him, whipping her eyes with her hand. It reminded her of the clothes she was wearing. “Thank you for these,” she said, gesturing towards her new robes. “And for keeping my house clean. I know you took care of it.”  
“Don’t I always?” He regarded her and she looked back up at him. Rohan wasn’t a tall man. His hair was starting to gain more and more grey hairs with age. His arrow tattoo stood proudly on his forehead underneath his hairline. He actually has some scruff on his cheeks and jaw which meant he hadn’t shaven in a day or two. His travels would explain that. And although he probably hadn’t rested a lot the entire time he traveled – Rohan was constantly going places – he didn’t look tired.

 

“We’ve got some time to catch up before I have anywhere to be,” Rohan looked at her with that curious gleam in his eyes he sometimes got when looking at her. Like, really looking at her. It was as if he knew how she was doing and what she was feeling without her having to say even one word.

Right now, she still felt a little guilty for how she left last time, and for how she acted. Though, she did feel better knowing Rohan wasn’t mad at her. She had never known him to get angry before and a little angry fit on her side wasn’t going to change that.

“I’d like that very much,” Carmilla admitted truthfully. She’d missed him and his wise advice dearly. She probably wouldn’t have still been coming to the Air Temples if it weren’t for him.

 

They walked together out of his office and down the spiraling stairs. He followed her, letting her decide where to go. Whether she wanted to talk in a private place or a more public space was all up to her and she knew it. That’s why she chose to look at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye. Before he had a chance to register what it meant, Carmilla turned to the road ahead and ran towards a vacant airglider standing against the side of a house. She ran straight towards the edge of the rock the tower was built on and jumped at full speed. Rohan had followed her albeit a little slower. He couldn’t run as fast as he could in his better days, but he still mastered the art of the airglider. He picked up the second one and took off after Carmilla. She pulled up and shot towards the sky just as he jumped after her.

 

He knew exactly which spot she was heading for and made his way there as fast as he could, using the aerodynamics from the natural flow of air around the mountain peaks to minimize his bending input. Carmilla was doing the same although she was being a bit more playful, letting her guard down. He pulled up beside her and laughed.

“I thought you became an adult this night. But seeing how you fly I don’t know how much truth to that there is.” She pulled a face and laughed freely before flying up for a moment, grabbing the air glider by its front and pulling it over her head, jumping on it with light feet and surfing the wind.

“Oh don’t forget who taught you that trick!” He swung himself around so that instead of hanging underneath his glider, he was laying on top of it. After years of living here in these mountains he knew how the air flowed perfectly and trusted himself – and the glider – not to crash into any peaks.

“And Carmilla?” he spoke in a soft tone as he put his hands behind his head and looked towards her.

She answered him by glancing at him and waiting for what he wanted to say.

“Happy Birthday.”

She swallowed heavily and willed herself not to cry. All she wanted as a birthday gift was this, his well wishes and she wondered how she could ever forget how much Rohan meant to her. He was like the father she never had, the parent she’d never known and the love she never received. She was glad her stubbornness had made way to the longing for home. She couldn't imagine celebrating another birthday alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> I don't have a regular updating schedule but I'm aiming for at least a chapter every two weeks. I am entering my exam period however, which lasts until the beginning of februari. I apologize if until then, I can't update as much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the distant past, Lola has her first ever Waterbending class. But it's a little different than what the other kids learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for how long it's been, but I've been studying almost non-stop for a month and a half now. I have one more exam to go and took the evening off to write.
> 
> Enjoy!

**LOLA PERRY (6) – 189 AG**

 

“But mommy…” the little girl whined as she put her heels firmly in the snow, avoiding her mother from pushing her further into the open cave, “I don’t wanna go to bending school!”

“Lola, darling,” her mother sighed as she stopped ushering the girl, “You have to go to school, and seeing as you’re a bender, you best go to this class. You’ll see it’s different from the other benders.” But the little girl clung to her mother’s legs and would not let go. She took a quick peak at down into the cave, where her soon to be classmates would be starting their lesson by now, and hid her face back into her mother’s leg.   
The older woman picked her daughter up and put her on her hip. She could barely hold her by now, the little girl being not so little anymore. She brushed a few ginger colored curls out of the girl’s face.   
“Listen honey, I know you’re scared. That’s okay. But you have this gift, and you need to learn how to work with it. And I know Miss Kara, okay? She’ll teach you stuff unlike the usual bending.” She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and put her down. She herself, squatted down for a moment to say a few last words of encouragement. “Lola, try it out, please?” She gave her daughter a look, and the little girl slowly nodded. “I have to go now, I’ll be here to pick you up in the afternoon. Bye, Lola.”   
“Bye, mommy.” Lola said with a little wave.

Once her mother was out of sight, she turned towards the room hollowed out of the mountain of ice. She didn’t really want to go in, but she’d just told her mother she’d try so she hesitantly walked until she could see the other children sitting in a circle around what looked like a pond. A middle aged woman spoke to the class.   
“Welcome everyone. I see almost every one made it to their first day. We’ll go around and introduce ourselves first. You can say your name, what tribe or nation you and your parents are from, and what you would like to learn in this class. Does that sound alright to you?” she asked the children kindly. Almost all of them nodded enthusiastically and some voiced their agreement. “Let’s start with me. I’m Miss Kara. I was born here but I have traveled across the different Nations. So I know a lot of different water bending techniques. Some of which I will be teaching you.”   
  
They went around the circle. There were six girls and three boys in the room, all sitting on a blue pillow. One of the girls told the teacher, Miss Kara, that her father was from the Southern Water Tribe, and her mother from here, the Northern Tribe. Another girl, who wore an outfit of mixed color, said her father was from the Earth Kingdom and her other father from the Air Nation.   
“They moved here to adopt me,” her smile was bright and it was reflected in her blue eyes, “once they realized I was a bender, they didn’t want to move away to make sure I got the proper education.” Lola could tell she was very smart. One of the boys said his mother was Fire Nation but born an Earth bender. His father, in his turn was a Northern Water Tribe non-bender.

Lola liked hearing of all these other children and where they came from. She was curious about the people who came from mixed origin. She was as traditional Northern Tribe as you could get. The red hair and blue eyes gave it away.   
She’d been watching the scene from the cave opening when Miss Kara thanked them all for introducing themselves.   
“And I think it’s time for our last student to introduce herself. You can come in now, sweetie. We won’t bite.”   
It took Lola a few seconds before she realized Miss Kara was talking to her. How did she knew she had been standing there?   
“You’re Lola, aren’t you?” Miss Kara spoke. She moved a bit further into the cave, and nodded. All the other children were looking at her now. She felt her cheeks heating up.   
Miss Kara stood up and moved towards her. She kneeled before her and gave her a reassuring smile.   
“It’s always exciting to meet new classmates, isn’t it? But also kind of frightening, I understand.”   
Miss Kara had a kind face. She had round features and freckled and was also bright blue eyed like most of the Water Tribe. She wore traditional blue clothes and her hair was half up, half down. The only peculiar thing about her was the red ribbon in her braids, which held the two together at the back of her head.   
She held out a gloved hand, and Lola took it.   
“We have another pillow for you. It’s right next to me. Is that okay?” Miss Kara asked her and she nodded. She’d rather be close to the teacher than to the other kids. They weren’t all staring at her anymore. Most of them just kindly smiled.

Once Lola took her own seat in the circle, Miss Kara went on with explaining what it is that we were going to do here. She didn’t even have to introduce herself to the others, which she was grateful for. She had never liked people watching her, and everyone had long gone back to paying attention to Miss Kara.   
“So kids, you’ll notice this class will be a little different from other bending classes. Does anyone know what we do here?” She asked no one in particular. One of the boys raised his hand eagerly. Once Miss Kara had given him permission to answer with a smile towards him, he answered.   
“You are going to teach us how to heal people, aren’t you, Miss Kara?” He stated it more than he asked.   
“Very good, Luka.” She turned towards the entire class again. “This pond we’re all sitting around is very special. The water in it is different from the water of the rivers and oceans. This water contains healing powers. I will teach you how to heal wounds. We’ll start with small ones and by the time you’ll get older, we’ll advance to internal injuries and more difficult ones.” The entire class was listening closely to what she was saying. So was Lola. Her interest piqued and her curiosity off the charts. A whole unknown world of bending was being laid out before her. She had no idea bending could be used like that.

And then, Miss Kara told the class something that just amazed her.   
“I assume you’ve all heard of our Avatar Korra and her predecessor – that means the one that came before her,” she explained to the kids’ puzzled looks at the big word. They were only five after all. “Avatar Aang was not only a very skilled master of the four elements, he was also graced with the gift of Energybending. Does anyone know how he was taught the art of Energybending?” She asked and many shook their heads.   
One girl put up her hand and said, “He was taught by one of the great Lion Turtles, Miss.”   
“That’s right,” she smiled. “Avatar Aang was an Air Nomad. And when it was time for him to stop the evil Ozai, he felt it was against his nature to send him to the stars. Instead, he used Energybending to take Ozai’s bending away.” Some of the little kids were wide eyed. They’d never heard the story of Avatar Aang and Ozai before. It wasn’t taboo to talk about it, but little kids didn’t need to know nowadays. Little Lola hadn’t heard the story before either. Her parents weren’t really a fan of some of the things Avatar Aang had done, that much she did know. The reason why was lost to her, however.

Lola watched Miss Kara’s movements carefully the entire class long. When Miss Kara showed the class some of the things they’d be learning this year, Lola became less hesitant, less frightened. She was fascinated by the healing, the way the water seemed to light up when it was around Miss Kara’s hands. How it felt to be held over you. Miss Kara had done a demonstration on some minor wounds and Lola happened to have a scrape on her knee from falling three days ago. It was the most peculiar thing.

Today had been a rather informative day. Little Lola had learned a lot and her eyes had bulged out at all the wonderful things Miss Kara had showed them. Though she’d been interested in the story her teacher had told her earlier in the day, Miss Kara didn’t mention the special bending power again. But as a compensation for her thoughts, Miss Kara had told them she’d tell more about Energybending later on in the year, and the class didn’t oppose. They already saw a lot today and were all eager to tell their parents, who were arriving one by one to pick their kids up. Most of the class filed out, but Lola and two other classmates stayed behind a bit. Lola recognized the boy who was eager to answer many of the questions today, and one of the other girls who hadn’t spoken much. Miss Kara checked the entrance of the room, seeing no one left there. Then, she regarded the three children that were still in the circle.   
“How about I show you something we’ll start learning tomorrow?” she asked all around, and they all nodded happily. “Alright, well gather ‘round then.” The three kids all moved their little blue pillows around the little pond in their middle, and watched her carefully.   
“So what I’m going to teach you is how to do the basics of Waterbending. You’ll need these tomorrow for the technique, but we’ll spend enough time on practicing.” Miss Kara reassured. And then she swiftly added, “Don’t tell the others that I’ve already showed you though.” That made her three pupils giggle, even shy Lola laughed along.

Lola watched with wonder; she’d never actually tried to Waterbend before. All the times she’d did it before, it just sort of… happened. Miss Kara put her palms right above the surface of the water, their curious faces all reflecting in them.   
The water rippled as Miss Kara drew the water up and formed a circle with her hands, cutting of the water supply. Levitating a few centimeters above her hands, a big ball of water – like a balloon without the rubber – was being controlled by her hands.   
“This is not the first move other Waterbenders learn, but it’s the essence of your training. It’s actually a bit more difficult than the very first move.” All the kids nervously put their hands over the pond as Miss Kara gave them the nod of approval.   
“Alright, now. Try to pull the water up. You can move your hands and fingers but don’t get too tense. Water is an elegant element, you should treat it as such. Go ahead,” she smiled.

The boy tried and tried until his face scrunched up in effort. He groaned and pouted and finally looked to the girl next to him. She was having no more luck than he had.   
“Don’t worry if you don’t get it on the first try. It takes time.” Miss Kara reassured them when she saw her pupils deflate. When she regarded the curly redhead to her right, she saw Lola hesitate. “Do you want to give it a go? It’s not a problem if nothing happens.” Maybe it sounded a bit repetitive, but it really helped to lift Lola’s spirits.   
Lola hadn’t really tried up until then. She was feeling nervous, and way too tense to Waterbend. Still, she took a deep breath - for a six year old - and put her hands over the pond. She imagined the water rising, and tried to pull it with little movements of her fingers. Her palms stayed steady, not too loose and not tense either. Her blue eyes were closed. A red curl had escaped her ponytail, which she’d made in the middle of the day because she couldn’t stand her hair falling into her face. It tickled her forehead. It was starting to distract her from concentrating on the push and pull of the water when a voice spoke.   
“Well done, Lola!” Miss Kara said enthusiastically, “Looks like you won’t have any trouble tomorrow.”   
At this, Lola opened her eyes and regarded the ball of water hanging just below the tips of her fingers. Miss Kara gave her the instructions to form it into a ball floating above her hands, and she followed them carefully. The wall on water moved parallel to her hand and she could almost juggle it between her hands. She didn’t want to be too fast with it though, and kept her movements slow and steady.

Eventually she let her fingers go slack and stopped concentrating on keeping the water up, so it fell back down into the pond with a small splash. Before any drops could fall on their clothes, Miss Kara held her palm up and made all the drops stop in their tracks. In mid air. The droplets were just floating. Lola’s mouth fell open with wonder as she looked at one droplet not too far from her nose.

“That was very good, Lola. I’ll teach you how to carefully let it go tomorrow. But for someone who hasn’t bended before, that was very good.” She smiled, and she always did it with her eyes as well as her mouth. Lola enjoyed that.

“Alright, now let’s give you a go, Kha,” Miss Kara turned to him and the boy moved closer to the pond to give it a shot.

 

When Lola went home that day, a smile was plastered on her face. She was proud of herself for managing a Waterbending technique that she hadn’t even known at the beginning of the day. And she couldn’t wait to tell her parents when they got home. She hadn’t really told her dad, who’d picked her up from school. She wanted to wait until she got to talk to the two of them together at the dinner table. Maybe she could even do a little demonstration… She hadn’t really thought about that part through. Perhaps she wouldn’t manage to do it a second time. Would her parents believe her?

“So Lola, how was school today, honey? Did you start bending?” Her parents had talked a bit about their work to each other before and Lola hadn’t really been paying too much attention. She’d been too nervous about trying to decide if she should try the move again.

She nodded eagerly and started to talk about the theory of Waterbending. She told them all about how Miss Kara told them about the healing pool, and how bending originated from the Lion Turtles. The story of the first Avatar and other Avatars.

“And there are so many boys and girls who wear different colors and talked a bit about their mommies and daddies and how they’re from different parts of the world!” She was still amazed at that. She’s never gone anywhere but the North Pole, and she hadn’t even seen most of that. So to think there were people who’s seen two different sides of the world? Had family there? It was incredible.

“Is that so?” her mother asked. Lola nodded enthusiastically in response.

“Yeah and one of them is adopted by two daddies from the fire nation and the earth nation. They don’t even know any Waterbending. So she’ll have to learn all about the Water tribes from Miss Kara.”

On either ends of the table, her parents looked at each other with a funny look but they didn’t say anything so she just kept on talking.

“And when class was over, Miss Kara showed me and two other kids what we’re going to learn tomorrow and I already got to practice a bit. I think I will be okay with it tomorrow.” She quickly took another bite of her food, not really feeling ready about bending for her parents yet. With Miss Kara there to assure her, she was fine, but alone? She didn’t think it would work and she didn’t want to disappoint her parents.

“Well that’s great, honey. I’m glad you got the head start.”

 

The rest of the meal, they talked about school some more, but more in general and work, before her mom asked her to help her clean up, which Lola liked to do. Her dad said something about meeting up with a friend and was out the door again even before they were finished with the dishes.

“Well, Lola, I guess I’ll be the one to read you a bedtime story tonight. Why don’t you go pick out a book?” Her mom finished up cleaning the kitchen before joining Lola on the couch, who had picked out her favorite story. It was a story about the history of their world with a lot of old drawings of strange animals they didn’t have on the North Pole and people like her classmates’ parents.

Her mother sighed when she noticed the book she was holding. “Again this one Lola? We read this almost every week.”

Lola looked at her mother through her out of place curls. “Pretty please?”

Another sigh, before she spoke, “Alright. Give it to me. Only because you had your first day of school today. Tomorrow, and next week, it’s going to be a different story. Deal?”

“Deal!”

And so the story about a world of nations with weird creatures and different people began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came up with the name for the teacher before I even realised I was one day going to write for Supergirl too. So this is a complete coincidence. I did watch the show before I started writing this though.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been far too long. I expected to have a little time off after my exams, but I didn't have enough time to write or edit. I went off on a tiny holiday before getting back to Uni and starting the new semester. I got sick as well, so was already behind on schoolwork...
> 
> BUT I made it, here's a new chapter, it's quite short, but it does introduce a new character! (Or 2, rather)  
> \-- Enjoy --

**LAURA HOLLIS (15) - 200 AG**

“Kirsch, I’ve already told you, we’re not having this discussion again.” Laura sighed as she pushed open the door with her shoulder as she was checking her bag, making sure she had her books, drawing case with her ink and brushes, lunch, and anything else she needed for the coming day. Kirsch was hot on her heels, his bag hung lazily over one shoulder. He tilted his head to get through the slightly too small door and closed it behind him. Laura could feel his presence behind her as she walked and was starting to get annoyed. She didn’t mind him trailing her, or his presence, but she’d been having this discussion for days now and it was going no-where.

“Oh come on, little nerd…” Kirsch whined, “There is no way you could defeat my mad ninja skills in a non-bending battle.” He’d caught up with her, taking easy strides with his long legs as Laura’s little legs were moving fast. They were running late. “Besides,” he added, “I’m way better with a sword, plus I’m way taller and that gives me the advantage.” He puffed out his chest and looked around. Laura would never admit the fact that she was small, even for her age, but he did have a point. Even for a sixteen year old, he was really tall. Then again, his entire family was pretty tall.

“Do not get the sword into this, you know dad won’t let me follow sword fighting classes so that’s not very surprising is it?” She gave him a sideward look. “But the point is that I am, in fact, a bender, so I wouldn’t even ever need a sword now, would I?” Laura flung her backpack over both her shoulders to get her hands free and showed off her skill. She snapped her fingers and a small but steady flame shot out of the air above her index finger.

Kirsch just scoffed in response, “Showoff.” And a second later, he added, “And _the sword’_ s name is Serenity.” To which Laura just responded with a small shake of the head.

The rest of the way was spent relatively silent as Kirsch asked her a question every once in a while and they talked about their evenings before for a while, but nothing all too serious came up. Laura had been playing with the flame she’d generated before, moving it like it was a tiny ball from one finger to the next, balancing it, trying not to let it get too big or too small. Kirsch had taken out his sword and swung it around carefully. He’d only recently gotten it and had been taking good care of it since, carrying it around everywhere – though he did have to leave it in the headmaster’s office at school. He was cautious in his movements, knowing he could potentially harm himself or Laura if he was careless. A crinkle formed in his brow and he stopped talking along the way. He didn’t really need to pay attention to how they were walking, seeing as they walked this way every single day.

Laura hadn’t been paying much attention either. She’d taken a step forward, letting Kirsch fall behind a bit as to not be in his way for his sword swinging. She was enchanted by the flame threading through her fingers, the warm but cosy feeling she had as she cradled it in her hand. She let it sit inside her palm for a moment before letting the ball of fire grow a bit more. It was spinning slightly, fast enough to keep the flame alive, slow enough so that it wouldn’t extinguish. Once it was big enough, about the size of her fist, she pushed it away from her palm, towards her other hand, and caught it effortlessly. She juggled it between her two hands, faster with each pass. The ball of fire grew slightly as the pace quickened. Her brown eyes reflected the orange glow they were focused on.

“Laura!” Kirsch’s voice cut through the air, startling her so bad the fire between her hands expanded, having lost control. The hand on her shoulder pulled her back as the ball of fire grew and became less and less dense, licking at the tips of her hair and skin on her hands. Laura winced in pain and quickly pulled her hands towards her body.

Infuriated that Kirsch pulled her out of her concentration so abruptly, she turned around.   
“Kirsch, what the f-“ At his look – his eyes focused on something behind her, his posture straight and sword tucked neatly in its case – she knew what was going on and braced herself for when she turned around.

“Hey…. Dad.” She was looking down at the ground as she turned around and spoke, knowing well enough that this was not going to end well for her.

“Laura,” she could just hear his sigh in his tone, “I thought I’d asked you not to do stuff like that.” He was clearly upset with her, but seemed more tired than anything else. Laura dared to look at him, as he said nothing more. He had put out his hand towards her, silently asking her to show her hands. She walked towards where he stood and showed her palms to him. The tips of her fingers were red and throbbing slightly. He took them carefully into his own larger hands and studied them for a moment before speaking.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get a bigger and much worse burn. And your hair hasn’t been burnt off, so that’s good.” The slight form of humor informed Laura that he was okay, and not as upset as she would have thought, but she knew it was far from over for now. “You’ll still feel it, though.” He tutted and sighed while looking at his daughter, who had a pretty pained look on her face. “Put some of that ointment I gave you, from your medi-kit, on it before you go to class and ask Kirsch to help you if you need bandages. I’ll notify Miss Cochrane that you’re running late and it’s okay.” He let go of her hands and opened his arms to her. She stepped in and gave him as best of a hug without using her hands to squeeze him tight.

As he let her go, he looked towards Kirsch, who had already taken a few steps closer, expecting he’d be addressed next. Laura’s dad sent her into the building first, though.   
“Look, I know you’ve been looking out for her, and I appreciate that, I really do. I know it’s not easy. I wanted to thank you again for trying.” The two exchanged a soft smile, understanding clear in their eyes, before Kirsch walked into the school.

“Kirsch, I’m going to need your sword!” He yelled after the tall boy.   
Kirsch stopped in his tracks and grinned. “Oh right. Sorry, sir.” He grabbed the casing from his belt and handed him the sword, before turning around once more to go find Laura at her assigned locker.

Kirsch caught up with Laura as she was trying to open her locker, which was proving to be difficult with her painful fingers.  
Kirsch caught on quick and stepped in, “Hey, I got it, little L.” He took the lock and gave in Laura’s code before opening it up and grabbing the medical kit her dad had made sure Laura had. He grabbed the ointment and closed up her locker before they both made their way over to their usual spot in the courtyard. There was a big tree which sheltered them from the bright sun. It was supposed to be a rather sunny day today, and it was looking promising already.

Laura sat down and waited for Kirsch to settle down as well. He hadn’t really spoken much and she knew that meant he had something serious on his mind.   
“Kirsch…” Laura started, but he already knew what she was going to say and interrupted her.   
“Just be more careful. Okay? You shouldn’t apologize to me, but, I mean, look at your hands, Laura.” He took them into his, much like her father had done before her, and examined them first. Her fingertips looked to have gotten the worst of it. He grabbed the ointment and started putting it onto her hands with a careful touch.   
Laura was not meeting his eye, her mouth twisted to one side as she tried not to say it hurt. She’d gotten worse injuries before. Always climbing in trees and running around. In fact, she recalled she once even fell out of this particular tree a couple of years ago. The bird in her hands was fine, but her arms had been full of scrapes from branches.   
As Kirsch applied a couple of bandages to the tips of her fingers, Laura spoke up. “I know you’re always patching me up and listening to me propose crazy ideas, and I know you think it’s no big deal, but it’s been nice. I’m glad to have you as a friend, Kirsch. I hope you know that. So, thanks, for putting up with me.” She gave him a small smile, which he returned, and stood up, testing out the movement in her hands, but not using them to push herself up. She didn’t want to put pressure on them just yet. Her first class was History of the Fire Nation, which wouldn’t pose a problem, but she did have Calligraphy later, which would pose a challenge, for sure.

“Oh come on, you sap,” Kirsch grabbed both of their bags off the floor and motioned for her to follow him. They shared a couple of classes, but even when they didn’t, Kirsch walked her to class. There weren’t many people of their own age on the island, which resulted in small groups of friends or friends across all age groups. Kirsch was the only true friend she had left and she was aware that he was one she could count on.   
“Now, give your big polar bear-puppy a hug and I’ll see you in next period,” he said as they reached the door of her classroom and opened his arms up to her. Laura happily stepped into his big frame and hugged him tightly before stepping away and bracing herself to walk into a classroom where all eyes would be on her. She was just happy her dad was the headmaster and could always notify her teachers. At least she wouldn’t get chewed out for it by someone else.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another quite informative chapter on how the world works. So for those of you unfamiliar with the world of Avatar, I hope this gives you an insight. If there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask here or on my tumblr. 
> 
> Enjoy!  
> \--

**DANNY (15) – 200 AG**

She was walking along the shoreline, backpack strapped in place. Her boots were flattening the grass as she stepped on the unused trail. She looked longingly at the sea, staring at nothingness on the horizon. Her sister’s voice could be heard over the sounds of nature. But she wasn’t really paying attention to her sister babbling on and on. No, her focus lay on what she’d find beyond the horizon. A whole world she was going to explore. New Nations and towns, new people, new adventures far beyond the borders of her home island. Sure, she liked the mountains and the trees filled with curious animals, but she wanted more. She craved to go out and explore. Fifteen years of looking at the same ground beneath her feet was starting to get boring. So when Xu mentioned she and the Kyoshi Warriors would go on a trip to the Southern Water Tribe, she’d practically lunged from her chair to hug her sister, who’d been clearly uncomfortable by the sudden sign of physical affection. Her sister wasn’t a hugger. Or into any display of sentiment really. It was a mystery to little Danny how they’d grown up so different, despite having the same parents and community surrounding them.

“Danny!” Her sister’s voice was loud as it rang through the nature sounds. Danny halted and sighed before turning around, facing the group that was going much slower than her.   
“What, Xu?” She just wanted to get to the ship so that they could go. They were the ones lagging behind.   
“If you’re not capable of following orders, you shouldn’t be coming with us.” Xu’s stern look had no effect on her sister though. She’d been the victim of the look one too many times for it to _still_ look scary. The other girls – and Lee – looked around Xu’s shoulder at the redhead, all shaking their head with the minimal amount of motion needed, signaling her to please not make it any harder than it had to be.   
“Xu,” Danny pleaded, stepping towards her and grabbing her hands, “Loosen up a little, sis! We’re going on an adventure! You should be enjoying this. Everyone else it. Look around and enjoy the nature. Enjoy the moment.” Xu rolled her eyes at her little sister but gave her a tiny smile. “Besides, once we get there, you’ll have plenty of time to play commander and boss us around.”   
“Hey! I don’t boss you around. I’m just” – Danny cut her off and filled in the blank.   
“- Filling in because Suki can’t travel, yeah yeah, we know.” Danny waved her off and started walking towards the ship that was slowly coming into view. “Just lead us towards the ship and then the Southern Water Tribe and once we get there, we’ll get to work. Just enjoy the journey there.”

 

It was a sunny day with not a lot of wind, so the ocean was calm. Perfect for a first trip out on the ocean. Danny wasn’t so sure she’d be so happy if it was storming and the ocean rough. She’d never really been on a ship, so her legs weren’t used to the rocking of the boat. Luckily, all was quiet and peaceful at sea. About an hour into their journey, everyone was settled. People who wanted to stay on deck had found themselves a nice spot while the others were below deck, sleeping or resting. Xu was on deck, talking to the captain of the ship, a woman of the Southern Water Tribe with mighty long hair. She seemed to be like Xu, giving orders and being in a position of power. It would be nice for her sister to have someone to look up to or just to talk to, instead of watching Danny’s every move.

  
Danny sat at the front of the ship, feeling like the queen of the world as the water spat up and hit her arms. It was spring, so it was hot enough to enjoy the cool drops on her skin. Lee sat beside her and listed interesting facts about the birds that flew by, or the fish that sprang up from the surface of the water.   
“Lee?” Danny interrupted him from listing another fact about lion turtles they both already knew.   
“Yeah?” The boy responded.   
“What’s it like out there?” Danny asked, looking at the horizon.   
“Well, it’s pretty cold, but that’s obvious because it’s the South Pole,” Lee stated very obviously and in a quite serious manner as he usually did. Danny chuckled, finding the totally clueless guy adorable.   
“Obviously. But what’s it like… You know, being away from home, meeting all these new people with other bending powers. I mean, I’ve seen all the pictures and Movers but to experience and see it up close is a whole other thing.”   
Lee smiled and nodded, “You’re right. It’s different. The scientific side of it is even more interesting, but I won’t go on about that.”  
“Why not? I’m curious,” Danny convinced him to go on. She enjoyed his rambles.   
“Well, it’s not so much scientific, really. At least, I don’t think – It hasn’t really been discovered yet – but I’ll elaborate,” He said and Danny gave him an encouraging smile.  “It’s just peculiar to see how the personalities of benders is a truly defining aspect of their element. Or I guess you could also say it the other way around, that the bending defines personalities, but then we couldn’t have diverse people which would be rather boring.” He’d trailed off a bit as if his mind has just bumped into a great idea that gave him lots to think about.   
“Is there really a pattern in the elements and benders?” Danny’s curiosity was piqued now.   
“Well, there are certainly people in the Earth Nation with all the qualities of an Earthbender, but who weren’t graced with the power. On the other hand, there are Benders who are nothing like the strong, levelheaded, and diverse people who fall into the category of Earthbenders. Or Waterbenders who have all the qualities of an Earthbender instead of being graceful and soft, as they are often described.”   
“Ah I see,” Danny was listening closely. She knew little of the other elements, only knowing that which had been taught in class. (Which hadn’t gone much further than describing the basics.)  
“But that’s where the, let’s call them ‘offspring’, play a big role. Waterbending is an easy example when it comes to offspring. You know there’s Waterbending from the Northern Tribe, and Southern Tribe. Both have a different style. A third is from the swamp. Their motions are straight and short, while the movement in bending from the poles is long, elegant and circular. Many people eventually find their own style within one of these and some even create their own, which is how pro-bending Waterbending was created.

“Firebending is a whole other story,” He continued. “Their style is short, swift, and efficient. Rather than waiting and playing of the defense, Firebenders are usually quick and overwhelming to their opponent. The pro-bending style isn’t that different from the regular style, taught to young Firebenders. Instead of groups or styles, Firebending is defined by the bender. Most think Firebending comes from hate and anger, but the key to a good Firebender is a good connection with their inner self. Their chi is their source of strength, which is why their emotional state is so connected to their ability.” Lee was really good at explaining all of this. Danny understood what he meant without having to think twice about it, but it made her think.   
“I see. That makes sense too. I remember something about it from school, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had ‘Elements and their Nations’ as a subject.” The sun was beaming down on her face, and she was enjoying the feeling as it warmed her up. She saw the Patola Mountain Range around her. They’d pass through the islands and by the Southern Air Temple. That reminded her of something.

She stretched out and lay herself down, facing the sky, as she continued. “What about Airbending? I mean, I know there isn’t really an offspring that comes from this element, is there?”   
Lee nodded, “Airbending is categorized as dynamic, flexible, and flowing. Their bending is even more passive than Waterbending, but can be more lethal than any other. Opposite to you and other Earthbenders, Airbenders avoid conflict and will seek another solution before using their bending to solve the problem. Earthbenders are the exact opposites.”  
“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Danny scoffed. Then reconsidered, “But I do see your point. It’s usually true.” She had to admit, she would always go for offense, and use her bending as much as she could.   
Lee grinned and went on with his theory. “The Airbenders are usually relatively calm people who enjoy their freedom. The Nomads were disconnected from the world around them, yet still helped whenever they felt it was needed. Peace of the mind and freedom of the heart are two key elements in being a good Airbender. That is why there has rarely been an Airbender on the bad side of things, they either keep themselves a neutral party, helping anyone that asks, or stay on the good side of things.”   
“But the Water Tribes, the Air Nomads and even the Fire Nation lived in quite secluded areas as they developed and learned their skill. The Earth Kingdom was huge, the Republic still is. Do we have a certain style? I can see the similarities in our community, but outside of Kyoshi Island, do they train and fight like us?”   
“Since we’re such a widespread Nation, you’re right. Earthbending is very diverse. Usually, Earthbending is a little slower, and instinctive. But then there is the style of the Dai Li, which is controlled, collectively taught. There are communities like ours which have its own style within their community, or even people within that group. Toph, one of the greatest Earthbenders ever, whom I’m sure you know of,” Danny nodded eagerly before turning her eyes skywards again, “She developed her own style which is now taught to other blind kids. Pro-benders also had to learn how to be quicker than the usual common style.” Lee stretched too, and yawned. They’d been up since the crack of dawn and it was nearing noon.   
“Out of all the elements, Earth has the most offspring. There’s Metalbending, Sandbending, Lavabending, Mudbending, the ever famous seismic sense, and last but not least Crystalbending, which is more of a subcategory of Earth instead of being its own, but since it’s so talked about, people usually avoid that detail.” Lee rolled his eyes. People could be so stupid sometimes; the whole truth, or no truth. That’s always the way it should be. Danny was straightforward like that, and she’d come to realise she’d learn not everyone shares her view on that during this trip.

“It really shows you how diverse and complicated this world of ours can be, doesn’t it?”

Lee wholeheartedly agreed as she laid himself down beside Danny. For the next hour or so, they cloud-spotted, trying to come up with the craziest shapes and objects. At one point, Danny pointed to a cloud and claimed it looked like a skybison, while Lee argued it resembled a polarbeardog. Eventually, it was Xu who pointed out to the pair that they’d reached the Southern Air Temple. … And the cloud was clearly a badgermole.

 

Danny looked up at the white tower perched on top of one of the many mountains of the Patola Range. The path towards it was long and steep, but they would be making the climb to meet the Air Nation. For the new Kyoshi Warriors, it was an amazing sight to see the blue roofs of the little houses built up against the mountains. Some weren’t even reachable by foot. Danny remembered learning that the Temple used to only be reachable by flying bison but that changed when the Air Acolytes, believers and followers of the spiritual aspect but non-benders, joined the new generation of Airbenders. They made a dock for ships in the valley of the main Island and trailed up a path towards the Temple. New Acolytes or Benders would first be trained in Air Temple Island before choosing a home: the Southern or Eastern Air Temple.

When Danny had heard the Northern Air Temple was entirely destroyed by a Lavabender, she’d been so angry at the man for giving them a bad name. Bolin was an amazing Lavabender. He was the one to actually share the gift with people who were stationed in the Fire Nation to keep citizens safe from volcano eruptions. The other guy had only kept the element to himself and destroyed lives and history with it.

“Yo Danny, snap out of it. I know it’s all beautiful and new but we still have to make it to the top.” Lee prodded her arm and pulled her along. They were behind on the group.   
“Oh please, I can handle the climb,” Danny scoffed.   
“I’m not worried about the climb. I’m worried about your sister killing us to get back onto schedule.” Danny let out a laugh so loud it echoed through the mountains and Xu glared down at them from the head of the group. Danny put an extra spring in her step and caught up with the group. Lee followed suit. She liked having him to talk to. He was an amazing friend. More so than some of the people her own age. Alright, he could be a bit of a child sometimes, but nevertheless, she enjoyed his jokes. He was a genius and totally up for anything, anytime. That was one of the reasons he joined the Kyoshi Warriors. He didn’t care that he’d have to wear a skirt. “I’ll totally look like a badass girl in that. I can’t wait to get a uniform.” Danny will never forget the look on Xu’s face when Lee said those words. Xu was more… traditional. She and Lee didn’t really care about that kind of thing. Plus, the look on his face when he got to see himself in his uniform and warpaint for the first time, was absolutely priceless. She still teases him about the tears. (Which totally weren’t tears. … They really weren’t.)

 

When they reached the village, people came up to greet them, and offered them water. They themselves were used to the climb up the mountain, but to the Kyoshi Warriors it had seemed to last forever. Though they were used to long journeys on foot or mountain paths, they usually had a good meal for some extra energy. It had been since the sunrise that they had eaten anything.

Good news arrived for their noisy stomachs. A kind looking man with arrow tattoos on his hands and peeking from beneath his airline greeted them in front of the large Temple.   
“Welcome, Kyoshi Warriors. We’ve been looking forward to your arrival.” Xu stepped forward and greeted the man. He turned to everyone again and spoke, “I’m Rohan. We’ve prepared a lunch for all of you to enjoy along with us. We’ll get right into it, since you must be starving.” Some eager nods came his way, which made him smile. He seemed to be the leading figure here, though Danny was unsure if they even had a leader here. The Air Nomads used to have their leading monks, who were in charge, but they handled everything in a very different way than the other Nations. Perhaps they’d changed up the order when the new generations of Airbenders came into the world?

Right now, all she really wanted was food, so she stopped wondering about the technical stuff and followed the group into a large area where tables had been set out for them to join the Air Nomads and Acolytes in their meal.

 

Lee was sitting on her right, Xu on her left. She was expected to be on her best behavior and be a good example for other benders that would be joining – which wasn’t really a factor here since these people were all devoted to the Air Nomad culture. When Danny looked around, she saw the same people. Either they were Air Nation lightly chatting and eating their meals in an orderly fashion, or they were Earth Kingdom citizens, slightly more aggressive in their eating habits and chatting animatedly. Everyone could be sorted into those two groups. Everyone, except for one particular looking girl.

This girl was sitting straight as an arrow, keeping a perfect posture as she ate her bowl of rice. She was sitting by Rohan’s side, on the table opposite Danny’s. She didn’t seem to look at anyone, but also had an air of knowing what was going on with every single person in the room. Her facial features weren’t native from the Earth Kingdom or from the Water Nation. Besides the family of Tenzin and his kids, the Air Nation didn’t have a typical features. Which meant this girl was from the Fire Nation. Now that Danny came to think of it, that wasn’t unusual. There were other people in the room that she could spot to be from the Fire Nation. They usually had black hair with sharp edges to their features. Their eyes sharp, their build elegant. Some people fitted this rough description – which Danny realized was flawed since the Nations were starting to disappear to form one whole world again. She was thinking in boxes.

This girl stood out among the others because while all the others were relaxed and talkative, this girl seemed stressed and quiet. Very observant, but reluctant. Danny seemed to be taking a bit too much of a notice of her, as the girl turned her head towards Danny and meaningfully looking at her before moving on and responding to something Rohan had asked her. Danny turned back to her own conversation with Lee and one of the girls. She decided not to pay too much attention to the girl. It didn’t matter where she’d come from anyways. She was now an Air Acolyte or Airbender and she had been a part of arranging this meal for them, so Danny would treat her with respect and kindness. Even if she was getting a bad vibe from her. It didn’t matter what the first impression was; as long as this girl didn’t do anything to harm anyone, Danny would be kind.

 

 

They were already half way towards the Southern Water Tribe and could still make it there before dusk but it was going to be a close call. They didn’t really have business to attend to here besides letting Xu talk to Rohan so Danny and the others hoped it couldn’t take long to be on their way. Rohan apparently stood in for the help Air Nomads offered around the world. Since the Kyoshi Warriors would be undertaking the same purpose, they could use each other’s intel and plans to help the world get rid of some particular bad influences. The Air Nation took on peaceful things and rarely harmed or imprisoned anyone. Since 174AG, as people came to terms with the world after the war for the Earth Kingdom, criminal activities weren’t as frequent. People still needed help with other, rather small, disputes, however, and the Air Nomads was there to help those in need. The Kyoshi Warriors would resolve severe conflict. Xu talking to Rohan would also ensure they weren’t at the same place at the same time. Communication between the two groups wouldn’t be as easy when they were on the move. Sure there was the occasional telephone they could use in the city or major village, but in the countryside, people didn’t just have a telephone. They were way too expensive for that. So it all came to the communication beforehand.

Lee pointed out to her that Rohan is a well-respected figure among all of the Nations for his ability to resolve many problems just through communication and persistence.   
“There have always been rumors going around that he is a non-bender. But don’t be mistaken, he earned his tattoos. He’s a very skilled bender, though rarely uses his bending. If it wasn’t for his traditional air-glider, people wouldn’t know he’s really an Airbender.” Danny couldn’t understand how anyone gifted with the power could just not use it. It was an ability she wouldn’t for the life of her, give away or want to lose. She sometimes wished everyone could enjoy the joys of bending, but then she remembered the bad some did with the elements and came back on that thought.   
“Lee, since you know so much about the world and its people, do you have any idea who that girl is that sat beside Rohan at lunch?” Danny and Lee were taking a walk around the paths of the village, admiring the little houses and enjoying the mountains. She was growing tired of sitting around and waiting for something to happen. Waiting for this journey, sitting around on the boat, sitting around here… She wanted to move along and get to the South Pole, though it was really nice here.   
“The one you couldn’t stop glaring at?” Danny swallowed in response. She hadn’t noticed she’d been so obvious. _Oops?_ Lee continued, “No I have no idea who she is, yet I suspect she’s of a noble family.” That was a thought that hadn’t crossed her mind. The Northern Water Tribe, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom all had noble families. Even Tenzin’s family was considered a noble one among others in the Air Nation. Danny just hadn’t been in contact with them on Kyoshi Island. That was one thing they hadn’t been taught at school, seemingly unimportant in today’s changing world and society. The noble families had less and less influence in the politics of the world and little towns. Though still quite influential, the younger generation usually decided to act on their own terms. Deciding, just like Toph Beifong once had, to cut herself loose from the family name and make a name for themselves.

“Because of her behavior?” Danny asked, silently wondering if Lee had also gotten the weird vibe from her.   
“It’s not so much her behavior as it is her posture. She was very formal, contained, trying to leave a mark on us, the visitors. It’s common for nobles to be taught this posture to make a good impression on everyone they encounter,” Lee stopped and pointed towards a lemur flying in between trees. “I’ve only ever seen drawings of lemurs.” He stared at it with wonder and Danny was reminded of how in love her friend was with nature.

“I guess that’s a logical explanation,” Danny voiced her thought aloud, in response to his clarification. She just smiled at the lemur remark, though.   
“An explanation for, what exactly?” He regarded her for a moment before turning back towards the road and the people. There was a group flying around, either training or enjoying the clear day. A few Airbenders were being taught how to do a particular trick that was Avatar Aang’s famous move. (It had something to do with trying to make a ball of air and sitting on it. It required a lot of balance and patience to get it just right.) Though it was peaceful and quiet in the village, it was full of life. Danny liked the atmosphere.

Remembering she still needed to respond to his question, she looked towards him but shrugged lightly. “Oh, nothing,” she brushed him off. It really had been stupid of her to think the way she had when she first saw the girl. A straight posture, trying to make a good impression, it all seemed unnatural to her. Unnatural equals weird, right? So a weird vibe that was actually easily explained. “Shall we return to the group? I wouldn’t put it past my sister to leave without us troublemakers.” She had an idea on how to get some energy relief.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a look, “Speak for yourself.” She chuckled in return and flicked her hand, sending a tiny rock flying against his leg. “Hey!”   
“Race you,” she kicked herself off and sped down the road without bending. She would probably be nothing in comparison to an Airbender soaring through the sky, but she got a head start. Lee was just slightly taller than her, with equally long legs. She had to give it her all to keep ahead of Lee, as he was a good runner. But she was better.

 

Once they were back on the boat, the dark haired girl on Danny’s mind was forgotten. All that lay ahead was the journey to the South Pole, the help they would provide to the people there, and the exploration of the world beyond.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is slowly forming, more puzzle pieces coming together.  
> As always, enjoy!  
> \--

**ROHAN (40) - 195 AG - AIR TEMPLE ISLAND**

 

Looking around Air Temple Island brought out a smile to his face. How it had grown into a place for everyone to learn something new in recent years, under the watchful eye of his colleagues. Rohan himself spent most of his days in the Eastern or Southern Air Temples, teaching young adults and adults the trickier parts of bending, if they were interested and wanted to get the most out of their airbending abilities. Here, close to the capital city of their world, Republic City, things were a bit simpler in many aspects. It gave him joy to see the little ones learning their first move of bending, or to see people visiting the island and learning the basics of the air nomad culture. Republic City was for the ‘new’ people, the people of mixed origin, and Air Temple Island was no different.

Rohan had some duties, and he fulfilled them with great pleasure. He was one of the ones considered ‘leaders’, one of the known people from the air nation, which came with a certain responsibility. He’d travel to Air Temple Island once every two months or so to guide a new class of students to their new home. Usually, that home was temporary, though on rare occasions, young adults would find their calling in the Air Nomad Culture, and stay on the island. Rohan would be the one to guide them through the years, alongside some other teachers, and find a place for them. That was another one of his duties. But today, he was here to welcome a new class of young kids to the island and help out in the gardens – something he loved to do but didn’t have much time for.

 

He’d greeted the class in the morning, all little kids between four and seven, who’d recently discovered their bending, who were getting an initiation class with their parents watching them close by. He’d met up with the parents and explained to them everything they needed to know. Some came with a list of questions, wanting their kids to learn about their gift, but still concerned. Others were airbenders themselves and were happy to see Rohan again after years apart. Either way, he’d been happy to do it, but now he was glad to find himself in the garden of the island, caring for much easier and quieter clients of his services.

 

He was at peace, working quietly alone on the plants. Removing some weeds from in between the flowerbeds, providing some other hidden flowers with sunlight as he plucked bigger ones to put into a vase later for the guest bedrooms upstairs in the side buildings of the Temple. It was quiet around him except for the buzzing of the bees and chirping of the birds around him, no human in sight.

That was why, when he heard the sounds of the wind rushing around him – not unlike someone airbending – his attention was drawn. He looked around, and then towards the sky.

 

Seeing nothing in particular, he stood up and listened for a moment. Just when he thought about going back to work, he heard a string of rather strong cursing. A wild gush of wind rushed past him. Who ever that just came from was very frustrated for some reason and he felt obligated to tell them it was unwise to bend while upset. After all, airbending was not meant to be aggressive.

 

He moved through the garden towards the opening he suspected the person to be, and saw a girl with dark hair frantically spinning in circles, moving her arms around in frantic ways as some gusts of wind were created out of thin air. He was about to say something when her twirling caused her to hit her foot on a small rock, throwing her off balance. She fell, her knee hitting the rock hard. Another string of cursewords left her mouth – and stunned him. The girl couldn’t be much older than 11 or 12.

 

“That’s some strong language for a young lady like yourself,” he said to her, causing her to jump out of surprise.

She didn’t respond, get up or do anything other than clutch her knee to her chest and look up at him as he approached.

 

The second he saw those eyes staring up at him, he knew. He felt it click, somehow. Years later, he still had no idea how he’d known that he’d come face to face with his own daughter after many years of being kept away from her. Still, after those many years, he recognized her nose, the dark color of her hair, her eyes – though the color had darkened even more – and the crease in her forehead she’d made as a baby when malcontent. Later, he’d discovered it formed when she was really focused or trying to come up with a new bending technique. The moment he was reunited with her, she had that very same crease on her forehead as she sat, clutching one knee to her chest, balling her hands into a white-knuckled fist.

 

How many years had it been?

Who was he kidding? He knew exactly how long it had been. He could never forget. It had been 9 years, 2 months and 7 days since she’d last held her in his arms. Slightly more time than the last time he’d actually seen her. He had been of no help in her upbringing or teaching her bending techniques. Though that hadn’t been his doing. He’d intended on being there for her first day of school, or her making her first friend, maybe even a first crush. He’d always known Mircalla would grow up to be a bender, however. Even as the tiniest little baby. But an airbender? That, was new information to him. His _daughter_. An Airbender. Of course he’d known there was a chance, but there hadn’t been that many children born from someone who had gained their bending through harmonic convergence, as he had, so he honestly didn’t think much of it.

 

But now, little Mircalla was sitting before him, bleeding from her knee, having just ripped her – what seemed to be school uniform - pants. The dark red stain was spreading through the material as the blood trickled down her leg.

He knew that even though her mother didn’t seem to be around, he only had one option. He had to compose himself and treat her like any other lost girl. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t care for her, and make sure she was okay physically and emotionally in the mean time.

“Hello there,” he started, clearing his throat and giving her a reassuring smile, “Welcome to Air Temple Island. I could help you with that, if you’d like.” He decided to go for the softest approach possible, but still to make sure she was okay. She, however, gave him a weary look, one that told him she was smart enough to suspect him of something.

“Maman says I shouldn’t trust strangers.” She was straightforward, that’s for sure. It sort of reassured him to know she was like this. Though the world was much kinder now than it had been many generations ago, there were still people with bad intentions hiding in plain sight.

He smiled softly, “Your Maman is very wise.” He knew this to be a fact, of course, if this girl really was Mircalla, he knew just how wise and cunning her mother was. “My name Rohan. Now, I’m a little bit less of a stranger.”

Mircalla turned back to her knee, and he decided that he’d seem less like a dangerous person if he’d level with her. So he sat himself down at a suitable distance.

“Does it hurt?” he asked her, his voice warm and low. He positioned himself in the lotus position and carefully observed the wound. He couldn’t see it all that well with the fabric on the pants still covering it partially, but he wasn’t going to press.

She glanced his way and murmured a soft response. “A little.” She picked at the fabric, trying to get it out of the wound.

“I bet that if you take your boots off and roll up your pants, it’ll be easier for you to look at,” he casually suggested, hoping she’d take his advice. Though it didn’t seem all too serious, he still wanted it to heal nicely.

Rohan saw her hesitate and decided to make her feel more at ease, so he came up with an idea. He put his palms a few centimeters above the ground and with a small motion, created enough air to push him up from his position, unfold his legs, and land softly on the ground, barely making a sound. He could see her wide eyes from the corner of his own. He suppressed a little smile. It was likely she’d never met an airbender before, especially if her mother had kept her on the main island of the Fire Nation all this time. He bent over a little and brought his leg up to untie his right shoe, stepped out of his on bare feet, and then moved over to his left. He stood perfectly balanced and without wobbling as he took off the shoe and placed it on the ground neatly beside the other.

Mircalla gaped at him, her carefully formed expression fell, her mouth open and her eyes wide, bruised and bloody knee completely forgotten for a moment. He sat down swiftly, letting the air beneath him soften the fall down and create a nearly soundless wave of wind. By the time he looked at her, her gaze was perfectly steeled, not showing any surprise or interest. She has that from her mother, he thought.

This move turned out to be encouraging, for Carmilla started to take off the black boots with the golden line down the middle. Another thing about the Fire Nation that had barely changed, the school uniform. The puffy red pants were kept together by her pulled up socks. After taking them off, she started to carefully bunch up her pants to lift them over her knee to inspect it better. There was a bit of red staining where the blood colored the pants even redder but the wound didn’t look too deep.

Mircalla picked out little stones from the flesh, all the while fiercely steeling her emotions, though her lip still twitched slightly because of the pain. Rohan also had a clever solution for this. He pointed his finger lazily at her knee and twirled it around a few times. The second Mircalla’s hand wasn’t blocking the gust of wind he’d created, the pain lessened.

The crease in her forehead was back as she thanked him softly.

“You’re welcome. Anything else I can do for you? We have some medical supplies in the main tower. I’m sure Kya will heal you if you ask nicely.” He gave her a cheeky smile and she actually seemed to form a smile on her own lips before reconsidering and taking off her other boot. When she was done, she made sure her pants wouldn’t slide down her leg and stood up, grabbing her boots and waiting for him to get up.

He pushed himself up in the same fashion he had before and pulled his boots up with a little air trick. He was hell-bent on having her get used to the airbending before going into the building with her. It was a mess of little kids trying to produce waves of air and sometimes being a little too excited, to adults peacefully walking through the halls before being blasted by their kid’s joking little tornado.

Wordlessly, he started walking, barefoot with his boots still in his hand, and she followed.

 

He greeted a bunch of people on the way and stopped to look at a class of new trainees getting their first balancing lesson. They all stood on long poles, rising high above the ground. The young kids were standing on one leg for a certain amount of time before hopping soundlessly onto the other foot. Or that was supposed to be the case. One kid was struggling to stay upright, wobbling from side to side before a gush of wind pushed him back into the right position. The teacher smiled at the kid before observing the others, never saying anything about her not managing to stay upright. Rohan didn’t need to look at Mircalla’s face to know she was watching with curiosity, even though she tried her best to seem uninterested. He thought of what it might have been like for Mircalla to grow up around her mother, without anyone to teach her about her skill. And what of Lilita’s ideology?

 

 

 

When he entered the building, it was relatively quiet. Most people were taking their midday break for some sleep or meditation while others were in class or doing daily tasks. It was a weekday after all. In the weekends, it could become much more crowded, with the visits from Republic City and traders coming to the island for business. Classes then subsided with only special classes for the visitors being given on request. One person he did come across though, was a young and promising student who lived here on the Island full time.

“Ah young master Aang!” His voice was warm and full of joy. He felt Mircalla regarding him as he bowed to Aang, a habit he liked to maintain with the young boy. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

The boy nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. “I’ve learned so much since last time!”

“That’s great!” his smile was wide and genuine, “I would love to see your new techniques later, but right now, I have a very, very important question for you.” His smile was gone and he was faking a very serious look, capturing the boy’s attention.

“Okay?” Aang’s manner transitioned from goofy and fun to serious in a heartbeat.

“Do you know where Kya is? It’s very important that she comes to the medical bay. Can you go find her and ask her to come there when she has a moment?”

Aang nodded and bowed as he put his fists together, as was the Airnomad way. “I’ll go find her right now!” he yelled as he started running. The pair looked after him and Mircalla watched with curiosity as he swung his arms down and a gust of air helped him gain speed.

As Rohan started walking again in silence, she followed him wordlessly.

“I probably should’ve told him not to run in the halls but there’s just no teaching him,” he said a while further ahead, an amused smile on his face. Mircalla just followed him just he noticed she was visibly starting to get more comfortable around her.

 

He lead Mircalla further through the halls towards the main tower, checking her every once in a while. He just couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t seen her since she was just a toddler. If it hadn’t been for her resemblance to her mother, he wouldn’t even have recognized her. That reminded her that he still hadn’t asked her for her name. Which made him glad he hadn’t slipped up and actually called her by her name yet. Boy, that would be awkward.

 

So as he entered the big medical room and motioned for her to take a seat on the medical bed, he figured small talk was the best way to make her comfortable. He put his boots aside and turned to the cabinet with the basic medial stuff. He didn’t know too much of it, but he could get started on the basics until Kya arrived.

“So, you know my name. I guess it’s only fair if I know yours.” He pulled out the bottle he needed along with some gauze.

At her silence, he turned to her and saw she was studying him with this peculiar look in her eyes. He allowed her some time before he was going to ask her something else, getting some other stuff for later that he knew Kya would need. But right as he was thinking of moving onto a different topic, she spoke.

“Carmilla.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” He said, not having understood her.

“My name,” she simply stated. “It’s Carmilla.”

 

It took him as a surprise, not hearing the name he was expecting. _An anagram_? But he recovered quickly and smiled. He could say or think about her mother whatever he wanted, but one thing he did know was that Mircalla – or rather Carmilla – turned out to be a clever girl.

He didn’t question her answer. “That’s a beautiful name! I’ve never heard it before. Quite unique.”

“Thank you,” she said in a monotone voice, though he suspected she didn’t mean any harm or sarcasm with it.

“Can I?” he asked as he held up some medical gause to clean her wound. When she nodded, he started to lightly touch the bloody knee. She didn’t show any sign of pain, even though they both knew it was supposed to sting. Rohan was unsure if he was supposed to admire that, or be worried she was only twelve and showing that little of her emotions. Not really acting like the children he knew from the air nomads, or from his travels around the world.

 

Before his thoughts could consume his mind, there was a light knock on the open door.

“Little Aang informed me you could use my expertise,” Kya said in a light voice. “He was very eager to find me apparently. And he was very professional.” She tried to fake a very serious face but her smile still came through.

“Thanks for coming so quickly. It’s nothing too serious, but I want the best for our guest Carmilla here.” It was the first time he tried out the name in his mouth and it was nice. It fit her. Still true to her roots, but hesitant to reveal who she really was. Smart, albeit a little scary for such a young child to be burdened with.

“Then you have come to the right person,” Kya said, as she looked at the supplies he was using and nodded thoughtfully. She took over from him and greeted Carmilla personally. She moved swiftly, cleaning the wound, making sure it would heal well with some special ointment the air acolytes created from old recipes, and bandaging it to make sure it would stay clean for the rest of the day.

 

Meanwhile, Rohan just stood by and watched them both. He didn’t study Carmilla for too long, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable, but still couldn’t help looking at his daughter.

 

Carmilla’s tear in her pants was also fixed by Kya, after Rohan pointed out that the school wouldn’t be too happy about her ripped pants. He saw the relief flash in her eyes, suspecting her mother would be the real problem, not the school.

Schools in the fire nation were less strict than they had been before Aang united the nations. They still held onto certain traditions, like the uniform and some specific classes and their elite status, but the stern teachers form two generations ago were gone. With new minds leading the kids into adulthood.

But that meant all of what Carmilla was showing now, the hidden emotions behind blank faces, the hard exterior and fake name, the hesitant demeanor, was all because of her mother.

 

In all those years he regretted leaving her behind with Lilita, he never regret it more than he did in this moment. As he saw how much her attitude changed that bubbly little baby into a stoic young girl that carried so much weight on her shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--
> 
> Sorry it took me so long to update. It's been a while few weeks and I fear it's not going to slow down any time soon.   
> I had written this entire chapter in one go - around half of it finished - and then it was hard to get back to it so much later. But I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Who do you think will be the protagonist of the next chapter?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trust me when I say I wanted to make this chapter longer, but it didn't feel right putting what I wanted to put, behind what I wrote. So I'm sorry it's short.
> 
> Enjoy

**LOLA PERRY (8) – 191 AG**

 

The water around her hands glowed a white hue as she hovered them above the small pond in the middle of the cave. Her blue gowns mingled with the darkness of the cave. Only her fierce red hair stood out between the cool colors around her, like they always had. A few bouncy curls framed her face as a big smile spread across her face. She did it! It finally worked. She finally succeeded in making the water glow around her hands. Her class had been practicing this move every single lesson for the past few weeks, but Lola had never managed to activate the water’s healing powers. She’d been one of the first to be able to bend the water, hold it and twist it around her hands and fingers and eventually move it around in the air around her. Though with this move, the one that actually mattered, she had been the last to master it.

At the beginning of the schoolyear, miss Kate announced they’d start healing and learn all about the medical properties of water. This was what they were here for after all. Over the weeks, all her classmates had managed to get it right at least once. Lola, however, she’d struggled with it, not understanding that a simple thing like water could suddenly become magical through her hands. She, the start student of miss Kate, had failed to do it even once.

 

“It’s nothing to worry about, Lola,” miss Kate had told her as she whipped away a tear from the little girl’s face a few lessons ago, “It’ll work when you’re ready for it to work. Some people just need a little more time and practice.” She’d lit up at the words, reassured that she’d get it right the next time. However, she didn’t. And the lesson after that, she’d failed too. So the reassuring words just remained empty on her mind, slowly fading into insecurities more than reassurance. She certainly didn’t want her mom or dad to know she couldn’t heal yet so she tried to say everything was okay and normal at school. That she was still good in class and that they were focusing more on the theories of water right now than on the actual bending. In reality, they’d long finished that part of class.

 

Because she was stubborn to succeed, she’d asked miss Kate right before their three week break from school if she could come to the classroom whenever it was free. She’d been happy to agree and tell little Lola that she could practice every weekend and Tuesday there as long as she’d let her know and her parents agreed with it. Mr. and Mrs. Perry had eagerly agreed that Perry could use some extra private classes, thinking this meant their little girl was far ahead of everyone else.

Today was the second week of her break. All the older kids, starting from her class, had three weeks of break, while the classes for the little kids were initiated. They didn’t have nearly as much class as the older ones did, and mainly stayed with the elders in the middle part of town. Today, miss Kate had gone out with a class of about fifteen kids between 4 and 6 who’s discovered they could bend. (In rare cases there were older kids who’d discovered their gift later.) She’d taken them to the little bay in the middle part of town to teach them the first basic moves of waterbending. So Perry had the OK from her teacher to practice in the cave today. And as it turned out, it happened to be her lucky day.

The water glowed around her hands, and it felt a different kind of cool as she moved it between her hands. The smile on her face grew with every second that the realization of what she’d just managed kicked in. She giggled a little as she stood up, letting her concentration waver and letting the water fall straight back into the pond. She wanted to turn around and tell miss Kate, or her classmates, but she was only greeted by the darkness of the cave as the white hue from the water faded more and more until it disappeared completely. No one was here to celebrate it with her because she’d failed to preform it in class. Still, decided to greet miss Kate and tell her the good news.

She promptly walked out of the cave and towards the water line where sea met ice. It wasn’t too far from the cave, seeing as all the main facilities, such as the school and sport clubs, were in the middle part of town. She saw miss Kate from afar, standing out between the small frames of little kids. When she got close enough to be within earshot over the calm waves touching the ice, she called out.

“Miss Kate?”

Her teacher, who was in the middle of helping a little kid with the push and pull motion, whipped her head around just as the kid pulled his arms back towards him a bit too forcefully. A big wave, taller than the little kid, came towards him and his teacher and in a second, splashed all over him and soaked miss Kate up to her middle in cold water and nearly dragged the kid into the water with it as it pulled back. Miss Kate grabbed him just in time and forced the water out of their clothing with one smooth wave of her arm. She sent the water back into the ocean with a flick of her wrist, clearly having done it many times before, before turning towards Lola.

“Sorry, Lola. I’m a bit busy, sweety. Is there something you need?” She sounded quite exhausted to Lola, and the little redhead wasn’t sure if she should bother her teacher with something that now seemed rather silly.

Another kid pushed the wave he was creating back with a bit too much force and fell into the water face first, causing him to cry loudly once he emerged. Miss Kate had him sitting on top of a water colon sending him back towards the other kids on the shore in a split second.

Lola deflated again, her teacher obviously had more urgent matters on her hands, she shouldn’t be bothering her with this right now. She decided it was best to leave her to do her work right now.

She forced her voice to sound a bit louder, though her excitement had left her completely. “No, it’s okay. I just wanted to tell you I’m done for the day. I’ll go home now.” Though she was busy calming the little kid, she acknowledged her and listened.

“Thank you, Lola. I’ll see you later in class, okay?”

She just nodded in response and turned around, deciding to just make her way home and figure out something to do there.

Her feet were dragging as she walked the familiar streets. She lived on the border of the middle part of town, and the upper part, reserved for the most important people on the North Pole. It was a bit of a walk away from school, but everything was peaceful as she came across builders, little shops and familiar faces greeting her. After a couple of minutes of walking, she turned into the street of her house.

As she entered the livingroom of her house, where the front door opened, she heard a sound in the kitchen. Alerted, her mind began to race over all the possibilities. Crime was very uncommon in this part of town, and there hadn’t been a break in since Aang came to the North Pole over a few decades ago. But her mom still warned her of such events. But maybe it wasn’t so serious. Perhaps her mother had just come home early. She smiled at the prospect of that happening. Her mother sure wanted to hear all about her successes in healing class, right? Even though it was just an “extra class”. She approached the door to the kitchen carefully, and peered inside. It wasn’t a stranger or her mother standing in the kitchen though. It was her dad.

“Daddy?” she asked confused. Her dad started work late in the morning – he was the one to walk her to class – and ended it late in the day. But it was already afternoon now. So he should have been at work by now.

“Pumpkin!” he yelled a little surprised, turning around in an instant. “What are you doing here, Lola? Shouldn’t you be at your extra class, practicing your bending?” He knelt down to be at her height.

Lola nodded proudly, “Uh huh, but Miss Kate said I could go because I succeeded in doing the move we were practicing,” Lola lied easily. “I did it, Daddy! I made the water glow!” Her smile was back full force now, glad to be sharing the information with _someone._ But then she remembered her confusion from before an frowned at him. “Why are you home, Daddy? Shouldn’t you be at work?” she asked him.

He stood up and pulled a mug out of the cabinet. “You’re absolutely right, Pumpkin. But Daddy overslept and is still getting ready for work. I was about to leave, actually. I only needed a cup of coffee before I can go.” He flashed her a smile but Lola’s frown remained. She glanced at the coffee maker.

“Daddy, you already made a cup, see? And I think you also need to put on a shirt before you go to work.” She pointed towards a pile of clothing that was on the ground not too far away. Had it been there this morning? Her dad was forgetful sometimes. And messy too. Her mom always cleaned up after him.

She saw him laugh and put the mug down on the counter before swiftly picking her up and carrying her around the house, towards the livingroom and door.

“How silly of me! I think the waking up late left me a little confused. But I do have to go now sweetie, and you don’t wanna be stuck inside all day with this nice weather outside. Go out and play a bit. Maybe you can go over to that girl in your class, um, what’s her name?” he thought for a second before putting her down outside of the front door. “Julie!” he exclaimed.

“It’s Yue, Dad, like the former princess,” Lola corrected, a bit annoyed that her dad wanted her to go out instead of staying inside. But, she nodded in agreement. He seemed rather happy, and she decided not to complain and let him go to work. However, Yue was sick, so she’d have to find something else to do for now.

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight, Pumpkin,” he said as he started to close the door.

Lola was still going to say something but the door closed before she could tell him so she decided not to question it and just let her dad get ready. She’d just have to find something else to do that didn’t involve Yue or home.

 

\--

 

She walked around the midtown for a while before eventually ending up at a little playground that was built right by the Waterbending school. Not the one she went to, but the one where they learnt to fight. Perry didn’t want to learn to fight, so she only went to healing classes. Her parents had told her she didn’t have to ever learn how to fight if she learned how to heal.

“You can’t be a waterbender and not learn how to use it somehow. It’s law. And we must follow the law, pumpkin.”

So this playground wasn’t one she spent a lot of her time. But she was used to being on her own. So she tried to entertain herself as she climbed up the stairs of the structure and looked down the slide made of ice that looked a shade of light blue. She eventually figured she might as well slide down, but there was no joy in the action.

The eight year old sat at the end of the slide and looked around. All kids her age were doing fun stuff, or being taught how to waterbend. All the older kids kept to themselves and well, she didn’t always want to be around the little kids either. She just wished there was someone around who would be willing to play with her or she could just talk to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, tell me your thoughts.   
> And if you picked on something, please do tell me what it is ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, but for some reason all my professors think giant tasks are a fun thing to do now?   
> I had this chapter planned out since the beginning, but for some reason it took me weeks to write even half of it. I tried to give it as much volume as possible. I hope you like reading it.  
> \--

**CARMILLA (16) – 200 AG – Southern Air Temple**

 

The invitation had been a verbal one. That had been the real problem. Anyone else would have gotten a group announcement to be confirmed later on individually, or maybe even a letter. But since there was no safe way for her to receive any letters, by system, courier or hawk, she’d gotten a verbal invitation. And though she hadn’t really wanted to go, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. Not when she was put on the spot and would have to see the disappointment on his face if she’d refused.

At any other time, she would’ve happily accepted a meal and a day away from the house. She was actually curious about these visitors, the Kyoshi Warriors. She hadn’t met one in person, but had read about them often and seen drawings of their uniforms. But as much as she wanted to welcome these people – most of them were girls, she’d heard – with a lunch and hour or two of conversing, something was nagging at her and she couldn’t seem to let it go.

 

She didn’t know the detail of it. Of the identity of her father. But she suspected Rohan knew something. And facing him last time had only confirmed that. So after her suspicions were confirmed but she was forced by the hand of time to travel back home, and the invitation was extended, she had just nodded and agreed to be here. Even if looking at Rohan was hard right now, knowing he had been keeping this from her for who knows how long.

 

She’d tried, over the past couple of weeks, to sort all her thoughts out. To puzzle the pieces of this never ending mystery together. But she’d failed. She just didn’t know enough. Pieces she got from Mother seemed to either not be part of the puzzle at all, having been blatant lies, or so odd she didn’t know where to put them. And Rohan? Well, he was giving her blank ones. She knew he knew something, but what. What was he keeping from her? And why would he not tell her?

 

Her mind had drifted once more and she hadn’t been paying attention to where she was flying. A seagull’s cry caught her attention and she soon realized she was dangerously low to the sea. She took a deep breath in and shifted one hand to hold the center of her glider, letting the other one go to break the surface of the water with her fingertips. The water was calm. Schools of fish were visible a couple of meters below her. But she decided to let the sea be what it was for the fish (and maybe the waterbenders). After glancing at the unsteady reflection of her face in the water, she gripped the glider and looked up, giving herself a push upwards and slowly spinning the glider upside down so she could relax on top of it. The ocean winds carried her most of the way. She was almost there. Her mind was still either a completely blank canvas, or filled with information. She wasn’t sure which one she’d prefer when seeing Rohan, though.

 

As soon as she set foot on the isle, she took the few steps up to her little cottage and changed into the Air Nomad clothes. Stripping herself of the tight ponytail her hair was forced into, the tailored uniform of red and gold hugging her body, and the knee high red and gold boots. Underneath the first layer, she wore a near black shirt and pants which she also got rid of as soon as she could. It wasn’t that she hated the clothes, per se. They fit her body well, she looked good in them, in red. She knew that. But she looked like old Fire Nation royalty. Radiating tradition, and authority. As if wearing clothes made to resemble the once powerful family of the Fire Nation would make her family royalty. As if they were better than every one else. Maman liked to think so.

She dumped them on top of her bed, at first not caring about creases, but before even turning around to grab her Air Nomad clothes, she carefully folded the bundle and put them on the shelf by her bed. Mother may not care about her whereabouts, but if she came back with a creased uniform, she’d never hear the end of it.

The comfortable, loose yellow pants were a welcoming change. They stopped a little below the knee to tuck into her grey boots. The yellow top was tight around her body but felt much lighter than the Fire Nation one. The lack of sleeves felt liberating. Her orange gown was tied at her waist by a red fabric belt. One she had everything put together, she tested her mobility by stretching and bending through her knees a couple of times. Restriction, in any form, was a nightmare, but not having the ability to airbend because of it was worse.

 

Right as she was debating whether or not she should head out to help set up for the guests and lunch – she’d left early in the morning to be a good host and help – there as a knock at her door. She knew who it was even before she heard his voice.

“Can I come in, Carmilla?”

 

She knew she couldn’t get away with just not answering. He knew she was there, and avoiding him wouldn’t help. It wasn’t that she was angry per-sé, but she just hadn’t been having the best couple of weeks, being restricted to staying on the Fire Nation Island for most of the time, not having been able to bend much, and her mind eventually running back to her father.

But she didn’t think she’d be able to pretend now either, and she’d always been so good at that. So whenever she’d been around Rohan, she didn’t have to pretend. So trying to do so now, was like mission impossible.

 

“Come in,” she said, turning to the Fire Nation clothes on her bed and pretending to fold them even though they already were. It gave her an excuse not to look him straight into the eyes.

“Welcome back,” Rohan said in a calm voice. He was always so calm. Never worked up, never angry. “It’s been a while.” It wasn’t a question as to why it’d been so long, or what happened. It was just a statement, and she knew this was how he worked. He didn’t invade, and she’d always been grateful for that. But right now, maybe she needed that little push. To talk to him. To confront him. But she just kept folding and stroking out the non-existent crease in her black shirt.

 

“Is there anything that still needs to be done in preparation for the lunch?” For now, evasion would have to do. Confrontation could follow, but she didn’t think arguing with him now and then sitting at the lunch would be such a good idea.

There was a beat of silence before he cleared his throat and answered. “They could always use your expertise. But if you don’t want to, you can just relax a bit before. It’s not supposed to be a highly official meeting. However, we would love to show the Kiyoshi Warriors how appreciated they are.”

She paused, looked up and turned her head to speak to him over her shoulder. “Okay. I’ll go help.” She put her clothes into a pile again and turned to him. He just looked at her for a moment before letting her step through the door. There was some tension in the air between them and she knew he knew it too.

 

She tried not to think about it as she helped the other Air Nomads set up the tables into a circle. Apparently, they’d be serving quite a lot of people. There were a lot of plates and bowls set up on a separate table where the food would also be served, buffet style. Chefs were walking around with pots full of vegetables and rice and trying to organize them. Some people came from their houses with little dishes and put them on the table. It seemed that everyone had helped one way or another and here she was, empty handed. So she tried to make up for it by asking some people if there was still anything that needed to be done. She performed a few tasks but soon found out everything was being cared for. The tables were set, food prepared. Now they just had to wait for the guests to arrive.

Carmilla decided to just go out and meditate for a while, or practice her bending, since she’d been unable to for a while and was feeling a bit insecure about it. She combined the two as she practiced a well-choreographed exercise she’d learned in her first days as an airbender. It was practically muscle memory so the movements flowed out so easily. Her bending, however, seemed off. The movements were fluid and strong, but the gusts of wind weren’t. The more she moved around, the more she got frustrated.

Eventually she just let out a grunt and sunk to the ground, arms around her knees, pulled up to her chest. She let her head hang back as she looked up to the sky. All these emotions were blocking her chi and messing with her abilities even more than not practicing had done.

When she was calm enough, she looked over towards the gates in the training area, a skill she’d mastered as a young teen with the help of Rohan. But, then again; it had been a while. She stood up and blew a gust of wind through the panels. It wasn’t even hard enough to get them to turn at a decent pace. She tried again, taking a deep breath and pushing air forwards and sideways. The panels spun wildly, but Carmilla wasn’t scared of going through them. She knew how to do it. At least, she should be able to.

She knocked into the first panel right away and couldn’t correct herself fast enough to avoid the second one. She grunted at the weight of it, surely bruising her arm. Then the other arm as she hit another one on her way to the center of the equipment. She managed to pass one or two, spinning with them, but then knocked into the last one on her way out as it hit her leg. She fell forwards, grunting from the impact. Her eyes squeezed closed, tears pushing again her eyelids from the sting. She balled her fists and pushed herself up, blinking tears away. She was tired, frustrated, and felt like she just couldn’t catch a break.

 

She was wiping off her clothes when she saw a ship arriving at the only dock the grounds had. “Showtime,” she mumbled to no one in particular as she made her way back to the temple.  She wasn’t looking forward to having to behave a certain way for most of the evening, but at least here it wasn’t a common occurrence.

By the time she had refreshed herself, and gone back to the temple, the separate buffet table was filled with food and the guests were halfway up the climb. There were acolytes ready with water and refreshments once they reached the top. Other acolytes and nomads were already seated at the tables that stood in a circular position. Rohan was seated in front of the entrance of the temple. There wasn’t a ‘head’ of the table, since in spirit they were all equal. But it did symbolize that he was the one to talk to about worldly problems.

He motioned for her to come over and she obliged. With other people around, and the lunch about to start, there wouldn’t be a confrontation or argument so she felt a bit more at ease.

“Carmilla, I would like you to be seated at my side. Is that okay?” It wasn’t that everyone had assigned seats or anything, but the question did make her wonder why.

“Yeah, sure.” She shrugged, trying not to show her interest. It wasn’t like she was going to hold a speech or anything. She took her seat by his side and did what she did best: observed without being seen staring.

 

Rohan greeted the Kyochi Warriors when they reached the top and his announcement of food came with eager looks and grateful smiles. Soon everyone was seated and the buffet was opened. Xu, who lead the group of warriors, was seated across from her and Rohan, along with her sister it seemed. They shared resemblance, Carmilla observed, except for the stark contrast in hair colors. She let get eyes go over everyone that passed around the table with their food. Some where already stuffing their faces, to which Carmilla almost scowled. She had learned to school her face to be as neutral as possible at all times due to her mother’s talent to pick on any emotion that she showed, however, and didn’t let her disgust shine through. Her mother and her teachings weren’t always bad.

 

As she was eating, she could feel a pair of eyes on her. She let the sensation sit for a while as she tried to sense where exactly it was coming from. She continued eating from her rice bowl as she let her eyes land on the redhead across from her. Her features were schooled, letting one of her eyebrows up in question as she tried to convey a look that spoke volumes.

“What do you think of them, Carmilla?” Rohan asked her at that moment and she easily let her eyes move on from the redhead and answered Rohan without looking at him.

“I think there are some very capable people in the group.” She thought of Xu and the only guy with the group of girls. As her eyes passed over some girls stuffing their cheeks and laughing openly, she added: “Granted they ate first.”

Rohan’s soft laugh and kind eyes warmed her inside and she couldn’t help but allow herself a moment to let her guard down.

“You have a point there.” Rohan paused for a moment and took the time to look at her. “I’m going to discuss our plans with Xu after lunch while the others rest for a bit. Are you planning on leaving right after lunch?”

Carmilla was aware he wanted her to stay longer to talk, especially since it had been a while and they had missed each other. Even with the unspoken discussion between them. But ever in the Rohan way, he didn’t push, or formulate his words to expect anything of her in any way. She could see why he was one of the major representatives of the Airbenders.

“I’ll stay a while. Help clean up. After I’ll have time. I wasn’t planning on seeing Maman again soon.”

“How’s that been?” he asked.

She sighed heavily. “She’s been insufferable, as always.” Carmilla couldn’t see it, but Rohan’s eyes were sad as he observed her as she spoke. “I haven’t bended anywhere on the property. I think she ordered the staff to spy on me. I used my bending out in the garden once and she grew increasingly mad at me over the course of a couple of hours.” Carmilla was used to a slap here or there. But she still felt the sting of the ring where it had cut into her cheek. It had healed properly and hadn’t left a scar but Maman hadn’t allowed the healer they had to actually preform her healing on Carmilla. Carmilla pulled her shoulders back, resuming her straight posture she’d fallen out of in memory. “I only bend in my room, and even then I avoid it. Now I can’t even bend much if I want to.”

Rohan was aware that practicing helped in the beginning, but it wasn’t the cause of Carmilla’s inability to bend. “Would you like me to help you after my meeting with Xu? Lets train together like we used to.”

Carmilla turned to him and smiled. “Yeah I think I’d like that.”

 

Rohan disappeared with Xu as everyone was finishing up their meals. They had a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it in. The Kyochi Warriors still had to make it to the Southern Water Tribe by nightfall. Carmilla helped clean up the square, moving the tables back inside the temple and gathering the cushions they sat on. A few of the younger airbenders were having a pillow fight with airbending, while a young acolyte tried to keep up. Carmilla created a soft gust of wind – about as much as she could muster – to send the acolytes’ pillow into one of the airbenders, giving him an advantage before their little rumble was broken apart by a parent. The youngster smiled at her gratefully and ran inside with the pillow. She continued cleaning up and observed the Kyochi Warriors that were practicing a routine with fight moves. She took note of how some of the moves seemed to flow from Firebending while others could be used in airbending too – as they were circular and focused more on disarming rather than attacking. Then others were so clearly earthbending with their strong stance, and straightforward moves. Those weren’t that useful to her, but the airbending style moves she could try and practice.

 

When she saw Xu leaving the tower of Rohan’s office, she knew he wouldn’t be far behind. He’d promised her a training session and he never broke his promises. Sure enough, Rohan soon came to look for her and they were off towards the training section of the island where the Kyochi Warriors were now filing out, back towards the docks. Rohan said goodbye to them all as they passed and wished them safe travels. Carmilla just stayed silent. She tried to put the thoughts of the conversation she was eventually going to have out of her mind and focus on the training ahead but it was hard. The more she tried not to think about it, the more she actually worried.

“Alright, kid. Show me what you got.” Rohan’s neat and polite demeanor loosened up when it was just the two of them, and she rather enjoyed this daring side of him. She’d love to deliver and show him what she got but all that came out was a tiny puff of air.

“Ugh!” she groaned, taking a deep breath and opening up her gestures, making them bigger and longer. Still, only a slightly bigger but not more powerful gust came out. “See what I mean? I can’t bend anymore. Even flying here was hard. I was lucky the winds were strong.

“Let’s go through all the motions again and loosen you up a bit.” He says nothing of the implications that her bending is blocked by emotion and stress.

As they went through the motions, they made small talk. But Rohan still asked her about life in the fire nation every time she came by and today was no different.

“I know you talk about your mother before. But how is that brother of yours doing? Is he still pestering you?”

“Will is still a little sh-“ she swallowed the word, he might be her best friend and mentor but she didn’t swear in front of him since he disapproved. Adults. Tsk tsk. “A little shameless brat. He’s starting to learn more bending and he’s getting better at it slowly. It makes him a little angel in Maman’s eyes.”

Rohan noticed how small she looked. No child should ever be weighed down by the burden of trying to live up to unreasonable expectations.

“I know he’s still a kid, but he’s already so mean.” She halted in her step, “Maman just encourages him in the worst possible ways. I know it’s not his fault but I’m scared he’ll turn out just like her.”

“He’s got a long road ahead of him. I’m sure he’ll see her true colors one day. For now he’s just a kid who looks up to his mother.” Carmilla took her stance once again and Rohan motioned for her to hold it. He walked around her and corrected small things where needed. But Carmilla was one of his best students after all.

“Maybe so. I don’t know.”

Their conversation slowed as they performed moves without actually bending and calmed their inner selves. But Carmilla still felt that one big question nagging at her mind and she knew she had to talk about it.

“Rohan, I need to talk to you.”

He chuckled, “I thought we were?”

She bit her lip, took a deep breath and spoke. “It’s about my father.”

For a moment there was nothing more than the sounds of nature around them. Then, he sighed.

“Carmilla-“

She didn’t want to find out what he was going to say and interrupted, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to go on if he avoided the subject. “I know you know something. More than you’re telling me. And I just-“ she sighed, stopped the routine they’d still been doing and turned to him. “I need to know.”

He stood there, just regarding her for a while. There was this… this something in his eyes and it seemed to pain him. Just when she thought he wasn’t going to give her anything at all, he nodded, looking down and schooling himself before looking up again.

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

“I’ll tell you what I know. What do you want to know?”

Carmilla gasped, she wasn’t sure where this conversation would lead her but this wasn’t what she’d expected. But Maman’s words were still there. _The second that poor excuse of a man found out you were an airbender, he left me to take care of you._ The suppressed the excitement from earlier and willed herself to speak. “Do you know if he hated me?”

At this, Rohan was taken aback. “What?”

“Maman said he left because I turned out to be an airbender.”

His heart broke for her. “Carmilla, you’ve told me of your mother’s lies. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was another one of her lies to hurt you.”

“You really think so?” Her eyes were glossed over and wide.

“He never hated you.”

“How can you be certain? Do you know who he is?” She was still wide eyed but curiosity and suspicion started to loom over her.

“I made him a promise. I can’t tell you. It’s best for your safety as well as his.” Rohan couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to have to hurt her in this way. He wasn’t lying. He’d made himself the promise to protect her and with that, came not revealing himself. When he opened his eyes, Carmilla looked at him like he’d struck her.

“What?” her voice was tiny, not even a whisper.

“I promised him I wouldn’t reveal his identity. For your safety,” he repeated. She had to understand.

Carmilla’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Safety? But-“ she ran her hands through her hair and started walking away from Rohan. When she turned back towards him, she looked different. “Surely, if he saw me he would agree that being with him is far safer for me than being with my mother?”

Rohan’s heart broke for her. “Carmilla, I know how much you want to know him but I can’t tell you.”

“Do you, though? Do you really know how badly I want to know? How much I want to get away from her?”

“I’ve been there for you since you were 12, Carmilla. I know.”

She started towards him and he could see the fire in her eyes. “No! You don’t. You don’t have to live with her! You don’t have to face her and hide you really are. You don’t have to hear her lies.” Her nails were digging into her palms as she clenched her fists. “You have to tell me!” She was screaming but she didn’t care who heard her. This was her chance to end this life of misery and he wasn’t granting her that.

Rohan sighed, “Carmilla, I can’t.”

 

She exploded.

She ran towards him, fists drumming against his chest. She put her bending into it and used it to push him backwards. Rohan was trying to catch her hands, stop her from pounding in on him but it was no use. She was quicker than he was.

He let her push him and when he had an advantage, he turned around. Carmilla feel forward on her hands and knees and was heaving with labored breaths from screaming.

“Carmilla-“

She sprung up and as she turned around, created a ball of wind which she sent flying into his chest. He stumbled backwards with the sheer force of the blast. His foot caught on a rock and he fell hard on his back. His head hit the ground and he went out like a light.

Carmilla was still heaving, fists balled on either side. She saw him fall and walked towards him, unsure of what she was going to do when she got to him. Then she registered that he wasn’t getting up. As she stood over him, her anger left her in an instant. “Rohan?”

When he didn’t respond, she fell to her knees by his side immediately. “Rohan!” She felt her eyes start to water as she frantically reached for his neck. She felt a strong pulse but wasn’t assured at all. She kept calling his name louder and louder, shaking him and desperately wishing he would wake up and respond. Her tears were flowing now. This wasn’t what she wanted.

“Oh gods!” A voice from behind Carmilla startled her. “Carmilla, dear, what happened?” Omi asked as she too knelt beside Rohan.

Carmilla stuttered as she didn’t know what to say. Should she say it’s her fault? It was all her fault. But then they’d all know how horrible she really is. That she isn’t really one of them. She couldn’t get anything coherent out through her tears.

Omi turned to her as she let her hands measure Rohan’s pulse. “Carmilla, go get some others, I’ll stay here.” Carmilla looked at her like she spoke a different language and when she didn’t immediately move, Omi said, “Go.”

 

Carmilla ran back to the temple and to everyone she passed, she said the only thing she could get out: “Rohan’s hurt. Go help Omi!” It didn’t take her long to reach the temple where others were already gathering medical supplies. She doubled over as she tried to catch her breath. Everyone around her was making their way towards the training grounds. She could see the worried looks on their faces.

She was the cause of that.

She did that.

Oh gods.

She felt so sick. Rohan was hurt because of her. And for what? A father who had left her with her mother? Rohan was more of a father to her than that man ever was and look at what she did to him.

She didn’t wait to catch her breath. Instead, she bolted towards her cottage, shredding her Air Nomad clothes and discarding them, not caring if they ended up in a puddle. She threw open her cottage door, ran over to her closet and changed as quickly as she good. She didn’t bring a lot of stuff – she never does – and she was thankful for it. She grabbed her bag and air glider and ran outside. She didn’t even pause to look back until she jumped off the cliff, opened her glider and was soaring through the air.

 

When she did look back – just the once – she saw Rohan being carried inside the healer’s building and a bunch of Acolytes and Nomads gathered behind them. Her sigh of relief was shadowed by angry thoughts aimed at herself and tears streaming down her cheek.

She let them fall for now. They had an hour to dry and disappear.

It was going to be a long way to the house.

And even a longer one to go back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> I hope you enjoyed it.  
> I believe this is the first chapter to directly follow the timeline of another. The first Carmilla chapter plays out after this one. I hope it gave some more insight on what made her stay away from Rohan for so long.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me at Caskettmyheart.tumblr.com to find out more about this world of Carmilla and ATLA in my head.


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